Surat outlaw killed in gang war

History-sheeter and notorious land grabber of Surat, Munna Bharwad, was shot and stabbed by assailants at Althan in Bhatar here on Monday morning. Cops suspect that Bharwad's arch foe, Manish Sindhia, plotted the murder. Cops and other people apprehend that the murder could lead to a major gang war in the city in coming days.

According to information, Bharwad, a resident of Riddhi-Siddhi apartment at Althan in Bhatar, was killed by three unidentified persons near Khodiyar Mata temple at Althan. The trio, who came on a motorcycle, fired 7-8 rounds on Bharwad and later stabbed him more than 32 times. As Bharwad fell on the ground and died on the spot, the trio escaped from the spot.

Local residents informed the police, who soon reached the spot. DCP (crime) Subhash Trivedi also visited the spot. Cops collected evidence from the spot, including empty bullet shells, and sent them to laboratory for checking. To collect more evidence, cops searched the entire area with the help of a dog squad. A mobile phone was also recovered near Bharwad's body. The body was later sent to New Civil hospital for post-mortem.

Police sources said that Bharwad was involved in many crimes, including murky land deals. He used to forcibly grab vacant land at Pandesara, Godadara, Limbayat and other areas. He was wanted in many cases in various police stations of the city. The sources said that Bharwad had a tussle with Manish Sindhia, another land grabber and criminal, about a year back. The tussle resulted into a gang war and both tried to attack each other. Bharwad even tried to kill Manish Sindhia in his office at Sargam Shopping Centre, six months back, but Scindia managed to escape. This attack made them arch enemies, out to kill each other.

Khatodara police are investigating the case.