Rajkot: Goons made a complete mockery of law and order in ceramic town Morbi as they resorted to indiscriminate firing that left a 13-year-old boy dead and four others including their target - a local criminal Aarif Mir and his aide injured, late on Saturday night.The young boy Vishal Bambhania succumbed to the bullet injuries in Rajkot Civil Hospital while an 11-year-old girl Shilpa Wasimbhai, who also injured in firing, is said to be out of danger.At around 9pm, four people - two on a bike and two in an SUV - came in the highly congested Kalika Plot area and started raining bullets on Mir’s house. The firing is said to be a fall-out of a bitter rivalry between Mir’s late brother Mushtaq and his friend-turned-foe Hitendrasinh Zala. The duo who opened fire were sharpshooters hired to bump off Mir.Though police claimed to have evidence of 16 shots fired, it is suspected that the goons fired nearly 35 rounds. Along with Mir, his 23-year-old aide Imran Sumra, also suffered bullet injuries and the former has been rushed to VS Hospital in Ahmedabad.Vishal and Shilpa were playing near Mir’s house when they were hit by bullets. All hell broke lose after the news of Vishal’s death spread in the area and a huge mob took to the streets. The mob caught hold of one sharpshooter identified as Rajvir Kshatriya, a native of Uttar Pradesh. They thrashed and handed him to the police. Kshatriya was rushed to Rajkot Civil Hospital.Soon, the mob vandalized large number of two-wheelers parked by the roadside even as police tried to bring the situation under control. Some people from the mob also clashed with the cops. Chaotic scenes were witnessed as several people from the mob insisted on going to Rajkot with the cops, who were taking Kshatriya, and expressed apprehensions of police bumping him off in an encounter. Many of them even climbed on the ambulance and did not allow them to leave before cops intervened.On Sunday too, some local Muslims leaders reached the police station and demanded to know as to who had given the contract to eliminate Mir. Police had a tough time controlling the situation as people refused to take Vishal’s body for cremation until the killers were arrested. Police has found 16 used and eight live cartridges and a pistol from the crime spot besides one pistol from Kshatriya at the hospital.Later on Sunday evening, an FIR regarding the incident was lodged after Mir gave his statement to the police at the VS Hospital. RJ Chowdhary, police inspector, Morbi A division police station told TOI: “In his complaint, Mir has said that the assailants were members of a gang formed by his old rival Hitendrasinh Zala. He said the same gang was involved in his elder brother Mushtaq’s murder in 2017.”Zala was lodged in Jamnagar jail before he jumped parole and is still absconding.Situation was tense in Kalika Plot area on Sunday too even as police stepped up patrolling and deployed companies of State Reserve Police (SRP) in sensitive areas including Machhipith in Shanala village where Zala’s house is located. Vigil was tightened in Rajkot Civil Hospital too where Kshatriya is admitted, Chowdhary said.Morbi deputy superintendent of police, Banno Joshi, said, “Primarily, we suspect that this was a gang war triggered by some land dispute.”Morbi superintendent of police (SP), Karanraj Vaghela, said, “We have formed separate teams of crime branch and special operation group to investigate the case and nab the perpetrators as soon as possible.”

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