Arif Syed Abu Bukha, 40, succumbed to bullet injuries as he was taken to JJ Hospital.
The slain driver-cum-bodyguard of fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar was "definitely" the target of the south Mumbai shooting incident, the Maharashtra government said today, while the police said Kaskar was not present at the site.
"Initial questioning of those arrested in connection with the incident has revealed that their target was Iqbal's driver," home minister RR Patil told reporters in Ahmednagar district.
Arif Syed Abu Bukha, 40, succumbed to bullet injuries as he was taken to JJ Hospital.
To a query on whether last night's incident was a fallout of a gang-war, he asserted "there are no gangs (left) in Mumbai, so there is no question of a gang-war."
However, Mumbai joint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy maintained that at this point of time, they could not conclusively say Kaskar was not the target as the two shooters, hired by an unidentified man, had been paid "large" amounts for the job and also provided sophisticated weapons.
"Kaskar's bodyguard Bukha was definitely the target of the attack. At this stage, I cannot say that Kaskar was not the target. If Bukha was the only target then why the shooters would get sophisticated weapons and large amount of money for the job?"
Gunmen Syyed Ali (29), a resident of Mumbra in adjoining Thane, and Indra Khatri (27) from Nepal, had allegedly fired at Bukha in South Mumbai's Dambarwala building in which Kaskar's office is located.
The two were arrested from near JJ Hospital, while their two other associates managed to flee. The duo was today sent to police custody till May 26.
Kaskar, an accused in the Sara Sahara Mall land grabbing case, was acquitted in 2007 by a special MCOCA court.
Earlier, joint police commissioner (law and order) Rajnish Seth said, "Kaskar was not there at the place of the firing. But this does not mean he was not the target."
Roy told reporters Kaskar was at his first floor office in Dambarwala building when the firing took place. "The two shooters went to Bukha, who was sitting near the building, briefly spoke to him and fired a bullet."
An injured Bukha started walking towards the building's stairs when the assailants ran after him and pumped in more bullets, police said, adding he succumbed to his wounds before being admitted to a hospital.
The attackers tried to escape in a taxi but were caught by local residents, Roy said.
A senior police official said although underworld don Chhota Rajan's name has surfaced in preliminary investigations, it was premature to state anything now.
"It (Rajan's role) is yet to be verified...just because Dawood and Rajan are rivals, we cannot hold the latter responsible for the incident," he said.
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