Sheikh Anwar, who had escaped under the nose of policemen after shooting a man in front of chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee?s residence on December 4, eluded arrest again on Thursday night.

Acting on a ?specific? tip-off, a team of six plainclothesmen from Karaya thana had laid a trap for Anwar, alias Mona, in the port area, but had to return empty-handed.

The officers left the police station in a red Sumo around 9 pm and positioned themselves near a hideout in Metiabruz, where Anwar was supposed to turn up. ?Our informers, too, were active in the vicinity. Our arrangements were perfect, but Anwar did not show up,? said a team member.

The cops waited for two hours. ?We then decided to raid some hideouts in the neighbourhood. But Anwar couldn?t be spotted,? the officer added.

Police, however, are hopeful of tracking him down soon. ?We know where he is hiding and are only waiting for some specific leads,? said Anuj Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (south).

Following the December 4 shooting on Palm Avenue, the chief minister had called police commissioner Prasun Mukherjee and expressed his displeasure quite categorically: ?Eshob hochheta ki (what exactly is happening)??

Within days, Mukherjee got Karaya thana (which looks after the security of the chief minister?s residence) officer-in-charge Dipak Dutta transferred to the traffic department. Dutta, however, had arrested two aides of Anwar within 48 hours of the shooting.

The sleuths have come to know that the victim of the Palm Avenue shooting, Firoz Khan, had a business rivalry with Anwar. Both Firoz and Anwar were involved in supplying construction material.

?Catching Anwar is now our prime job. And for this, we have activated our entire network of sources,? said an officer of Karaya police station.

Intelligence Branch additional director-general Sujit Sarkar has asked officers to come up with a list of criminals active in Karaya.