Locals say they didn’t see or hear anything

When 45-year-old businessman Ijas Khan was shot on Saturday, security guards, shopkeepers and employees working a few meters from the spot barely noticed.

When 45-year-old businessman Ijas Khan was shot on Saturday, security guards, shopkeepers and employees working a few meters from the spot barely noticed.

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From complete ignorance on what transpired to vague notions about the series of events, the locals have been unhelpful — even disruptive —in the investigation process, officials said.

The police said Khan was shot around 50 feet away from the entrance of Kamlakarpant Walawalkar Udyan. A watchman who was posted at the park’s main gate said, “There were too many people who had come to visit the park. I was attending to them. There was some nuisance and the police had come. But I am not sure what the matter was.”

An employee at an ice-cream store on the opposite side of the street said, “I do not know what happened. I just got a call from my boss saying that something had happened and that we needed to shut the shop. We followed the instructions and left.”

The police said local vendors, including a pani puri vendor, had seen the victim collapse to the ground, but had packed up their stalls immediately and left. The police have since been unable to contact them.

Khan’s body was handed over to his family after a post mortem and his last rites were conducted on Sunday afternoon.