A television director-producer was shot at by a gang in Oshiwara on November 3, though he learnt about the bullet lodged in his wallet only the next day when he went to the Oshiwara police after he started receiving extortion calls.
A fat wallet full of credit cards may be able to buy you anything, but staving off a bullet: priceless.
A television director-producer was shot at by a gang in Oshiwara on November 3, though he learnt about the bullet lodged in his wallet only the next day when he went to the Oshiwara police after he started receiving extortion calls. Four persons including two aspiring actors were arrested in the case on Friday.
Sikander Mirza was chatting with friends near a coffee shop in Oshiwara when he felt being hit by something on his lower back.
However, being Diwali season, he assumed it to be a splinter from the crackers being burst in the vicinity.
“However, when he saw blood, Mirza got himself diagnosed at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital nearby. But nothing was reflected in the medical tests,” a police official said.
Mirza, who has produced a few music albums and television serials, then went home. The next day, he received a message from a man identifying himself as Ganesh, which read, “I had given instructions to my men to fire just one bullet at you, and that too at your legs. I know everything about you, including the big amount of money made by you. I want Rs50 lakh in return for protection from other gangs.”
“I was confused as I had not been hit by any bullet,” Mirza said. The investigators said that after receiving the message and a few abusive calls, Mirza approached the Oshiwara police station to lodge an extortion complaint.
While talking to the complainant, the police realised that he had received an injury the night before. On further inspection, it was found that the injury was not due to crackers, but because of a bullet. “Fortunately, the bullet had got struck in the thick wallet, which was full of credit cards and other stuff,” said KMM Prasanna, deputy commissioner of police.
The month-long investigation thereafter revealed that the firing was executed by one Tariq Bhatt, 35, an old friend of the victim. The police said that Bhatt was lured into the world of crime by Salim Khar, another arrested accused. Khar owed Rs3 lakh to Bhatt, but was unable to pay back, and came up with a plan to extort people and asked Bhatt to identify prospects.
Bhatt in his statement to the police said Mirza had cheated him in the past and was not returning the sum. He believed since Mirza has become well-off recently, he would cough up the money on being threatened.
“I am not that wealthy. I do not know why Bhatt did this,” Mirza said.
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