Financier stabbed to death in Surat

In a shocking incident, a financier cum land broker, was stabbed to death by his business partners at Citylight road in Surat late on Sunday night. Police have registered a case and are investigating further.

According to information received from the police, Rajiv Shah, 31, a resident of Surya Complex at Citylight Road, who is a financier and land-broker by profession, was murdered in the parking of his building by eight people late on Sunday night.

The attackers, identified as Amar Thakkar, Hiren Kakadia and Mehul Lakhani, and five others, surrounded Shah and inflicted multiple hits of a knife on him. The trio and Shah were close business partners and had worked together on several projects.

Shah suffered grievous injuries in his groin area during the attack. He collapsed and fell on the ground, even as the accused fled from the scene, leaving Shah behind in a pool of blood.

One of Shah's family friends, Montu Gajera, who tried to save him from the attackers, also suffered severe injuries. Shah's wife Ami and other people rushed him to Mission Hospital. However, it was too late for Shah, as he was declared dead over arrival by the doctors. The Umra police rushed to the scene and started investigations, even as Shah's wife Ami lodged a complaint naming Amar Thakkar, Hiren Kakadia and Mehul Lakhani, and five other persons as her husband's killers.

According to a source, the group used to organise Navratri events at the Indoor Stadium, the most prestigious garba venue in Surat. The rent of the venue for the nine-day event used to be in excess of Rs1 crore. This year too, they had organised the garba event at the stadium, but there was a dispute between the partners.

Preliminary inquiries by the police revealed that a monetary dispute arising out of the garba event resulted in Shah's killing. Shah had a tiff with the other members over the finances, said the source.

The police came to know that victim Shah and the accused had gone to a farm-house on Dumas road for a get together. Their families were also present in the party. There was reportedly a tiff between Shah and one of the accused during the party. Shah and his family members reached home at Surya Complex around 1.30 am.

However, some minutes later, Shah received a call from Mehul Thakkar asking him to come to his building’s parking. Despite of repeated pleas from his wife Ami, Shah went downstairs.

The group exchanged a few heated words, which was followed by the attack on Shah. Umra police conducted search at the murder scene and collected samples. They also took statement of the building's security guard, who is believed to be the sole eye-witness of the gruesome incident. The guard identified Thakkar, Kakadia and Lakhani after he was shown their photographs.

"We have started investigations in the case. We are trying to ascertain the motive behind the killing," a Umra police official, said.

To get a detailed idea of what happened at the farm house, the police spoke to builder Tushar Ghelani who is the owner of the farmhouse where the party was held.
However, Ghelani told the police that he was not present at the time of the party and that the farmhouse was sought by Hiren Kakadia for holding the get together. He also denied having knowledge that liquor was served during the party.