Collin Lane, scene of gunshots being fired on Sunday afternoon. A Telegraph picture

The Collin Lane firing on Sunday afternoon was the fallout of a gang rivalry related to the satta business in the area, police said on Monday.

The sleuths said the duo who fired in the air was close to Sona, an extortionist and a former aide of gangster Gabbar. Both Gabbar and Sona are in jail. “Shakeel, who has been arrested for the firing, is an aide of Sona,” said an officer.

Two youths entered Collin Lane from the Collin Street-end around 12.15pm on Sunday, stopped halfway through the stretch and fired twice in the air, before running towards Free School Street.

The gunshots sent onlookers running for cover, while shopkeepers in the lane immediately downed shutters. A school student was injured in the melee.

“It is difficult to say right now who were behind the firing, but Sona’s men could have been responsible for it,” said Jawed Shamim, the deputy commissioner of police (south). “Our teams have conducted raids in some pockets of South 24-Parganas and we hope to make a breakthrough soon.”

An officer of Park Street police station pointed out that the firing could have been a “desperate attempt” by Sona to wrest control of the “roaring satta business” from Sayed Afzal Khan, alias Afzal bookie.

“The rivalry between the two gangs started years ago, after Afzal’s brother Sadik was killed by Sona’s men for refusing to part with the money he had extorted from a developer,” the officer added.

“To understand the motive of the firing, we are trying to find out the amount of money the satta agents have been making of late from a few pockets in the Marquis Street-Collin Lane-Ripon Street area,” said another officer on the case.

Since Sunday, the sleuths have raided a few hideouts in Metiabruz, Sonarpur and Ghutiari Sharif in search of the culprits.