Kandivali firing: Police laxity allowed shooter to carry out the act

Mumbai: The main shooter in the Kandivali firing incident on Saturday in which 22-year-old Ankit Yadav died and his three friends sustained severe injuries, was wanted in a stabbing case, registered at Kandivali police station on September 7

Mumbai: The main shooter in the Kandivali firing incident on Saturday in which 22-year-old Ankit Yadav died and his three friends sustained severe injuries, was wanted in a stabbing case, registered at Kandivali police station on September 7.

Kandivali firing: Police laxity allowed shooter to carry out the act

According to a police officer, had the shooter been arrested in the stabbing case, the firing incident could have been prevented, and a life could have been saved.

The perpetrator, identified as Sonu Chandrabhan Paswan, 27, was arrested along with his associate, Suraj Gupta from Bilimora railway station in Gujarat and brought back to the city.

According to a police official, Paswan wanted to join the Bihar police force, and as part of his preparation, he learnt to fire a pistol by watching YouTube videos.

The crime branch has been inquiring to find out from where Paswan has acquired the pistol, added the officer.

The firing incident occurred in the afternoon on October 1, when Paswan, carrying a pistol was looking for Anil Yadav alias Montu, suspecting that he has been in touch with the police and providing his residential details as well as whereabouts in connection with his stabbing case, said police inspector Vinayak Chavan of unit 11.

Paswan lives in Laljipada area in Kandivali West, while Suraj Gupta lives in Dahisar East but they knew each other for several years.

According to the police, Paswan and the deceased, Ankit Yadav and the injured are residents of the same vicinity Irani Wadi, Laljipada, Kandivali West. The complainant, Dinkar Pal, also lives in the same vicinity and works with a stock broking firm in Kandivali East.

Pal said in his statement that as he was returning from Mahalaxmi Temple on Saturday around 11.30am, he got a call from Umesh Yadav that Naseer Shaikh, who stays in their area was assaulted by the accused, Sonu Paswan and Suraj Gupta and the assailants were inquiring about the whereabouts of one Anil Yadav aka Montu, a friend of Shaikh, said an officer of the crime branch.

The complainant then met Shaikh and his family members and asked them to lodge a police complaint against Paswan and Gupta at the Kandivali police station. “While he was speaking and Shaikh was just about to leave, Paswan and Gupta, who were looking for Montu, came on a scooter,” said the officer.

Paswan got down from the bike and started following Pal who had started walking towards a nearby by beat chowki of Kandivali police. “Paswan started talking to Pal, who continued to walk towards the nearby police chowki to avoid any scuffle with Paswan and also get some police protection. While Paswan was following Pal, Ankit Yadav and Avinash Dabholkar caught Paswan, Pal also later caught him and threw him to the ground.

“While he fell on the ground, the pistol fell from his pocket and everybody fled the spot after seeing it. Paswan then started abusing them and firing at them. A bullet hit Ankit Yadav’s stomach and the other bullet hit the right shoulder of Dabholkar, a relative of Shaikh. The bullet splinters also hit two pedestrians, Manish Gupta and Narayan Gaganpalli who were walking on the road and they suffered minor injuries on their legs,” said the police officer.

Yadav who works in stock broking with Pal was declared dead upon arrival at the Shatabdi Hospital. The police said Yadav had nothing to do with the scuffle between Pal and Paswan.

Soon after the incident, both the accused fled from the spot.