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Mohammad Salauddin and wife Chanda. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha |
Mohammad Salauddin, shot at by an extortionist at his Wellesley Second Lane home at dawn on Saturday, died at SSKM Hospital on Sunday.
Prime accused Mohammad Akhtar has been arrested. According to police, Akhtar fired four bullets at his landlord Salauddin, in his early 40s, in an attempt to regain lost ground in the Park Street area.
Salauddin was a member of the local peace committee, which resists extortionists. Akhtar lived on the top floor of Salauddin’s house in Wellesley Second Lane.
As news of the death spread on Sunday, senior police officers visited the area with personnel from at least four police stations to prevent a flare-up.
Around 3.30 am on Saturday, a gang of four turned up at Salauddin’s home on two motorcycles. One of the men dragged the landlord out and Akhtar opened fire. The bullets hit Salauddin on his left arm, left shoulder and thigh, said his wife Chanda. She had recently fought with Akhtar’s wife Tara.
“In his final statement, Salauddin said Akhtar had shot him. We arrested the extortionist at Mullickbazar. Akhtar’s two brothers managed to escape. We hope to arrest them soon,” said deputy commissioner (south) Ajay Kumar.
Some of the most dreaded extortionists in the city, including Gabbar, Sona, Gudda and Nadeem, cut their teeth in crime in Wellesley Second Lane.
Akhtar, who used to work for Gabbar, became powerful after Gabbar and Sona fell out and were arrested. Akhtar then worked with Gudda, before starting his own extortion racket, said the officers investigating the case.
The residents of Wellesley Second Lane had forced Akhtar to leave the area about a year-and-a-half ago. He moved to Beniapukur.
“You have to live here to know how Akhtar and his two brothers terrorise the residents. His elder brothers Firoz and Mehmood negotiate the extortion amount, while Akhtar does the shooting,” said Shakeel Rehman, former president of the peace committee and a resident of Wellesley Second Lane.