Pune: The two men, who fired five rounds at property developer Deven Shah at his housing society off Prabhat road on Saturday, had told his son Atit, who was with his father at the time of the murder, to stay away from them when he tried to intervene.
Atit had accompanied Shah to the basement of their building after checking the CCTV in their house to see who wanted to meet his father. The family has just returned from dinner at a restaurant.
Moments later, while Shah was leading the duo to a nearby bench for a dialogue, one of them fired a round at him. The other assailant opened fire on Atit, who dodged the bullet.
"It all happened in a matter of a few minutes. Atit rushed to nab them but they fled on their two-wheeler," Sunil Kumar Nirmal, the watchman-cum-laundryman in Sayali Apartments, who witnessed the brazen murder, told TOI on Sunday. Shah died in hospital.
Atit lodged a complaint with the Deccan Gymkhana police and his statement has been recorded as that of an eyewitness. A police officer said, "Atit's version matches with Nirmal's. Nirmal is the other key eyewitness."
Nirmal told TOI that it was around 11pm on Saturday when the two men lifted the latch to open the main gate of the building and entered the premises. "They walked up to me and told me to call Shah. When I asked them who they were, they abused and threatened me. Both were drunk. They told me to call Shah down immediately," he said.
Nirmal went to Shah's flat. "Shah and Atit came bythe lift while I walked down the stairs," he said.
When he reached the basement, he heard one of the men threatening Atit to stay back. "Shah also told Atit to step away. Shah told the two men that they should talk it out," Nirmal said.
The man in the white shirt walked ahead and Shah followed the second man who was wearing a blue shirt. "After walking some distance, the man in the blue shirt turned around and pulled out a firearm. He fired at Shah who ran towards the lift to save himself. Hearing the shots, Atit rushed towards the duo. At the same time, the man in the white shirt fired at Atit, which he dodged," Nirmal said.
The assailants fired a few more rounds and ran towards the gate. "Atit ran to nab them, but I called him back when I saw that Shah was bleeding profusely," Nirmal said. By this time, Atit's wife was down. "They took Shah to hospital," Nirmal said.
An officer from the crime branch told TOI that when Shah and his son came down, one of assailants demanded to know which of them was Deven Shah.
"When Shah identified himself, the duo started abusing him. Hearing them talk roughly to his father, Atit came forward and tried to pacify them. The assailants turned on him and told him to stay away," the officer said.
When Atit started chasing them after they had shot Shah, the assailant in the blue shirt said, 'Do not step forward', and both fled on the motorcycle, the officer said.
Atit has denied that the family had received any threat. He said the registration number of the motorcycle used by the duo was not captured in the CCTV footage as the vehicle was parked on the other side of the road. Senior inspector Ajay Kadam of the Deccan Gymkhana police is investigating the case.
'Brazen murder'
A resident of Prabhat road lane 7, who knew Shah, told TOI that he was a sober person. "Despite constant police patrolling in the area, it is surprising that a murder should happen here so brazenly," he said. The resident said patrolling on Prabhat road and its adjacent lanes had been intensified since the past month. "The unmasked duo shooting at Shah and escaping with ease is worrying for the residents here," he said.
Assailants spoke in Marathi
Both suspects were speaking in Marathi. The one in a white shirt, blue jeans and sports shoes was around 40 years and about 5'8" tall. The other man was aged around 35 and was about 5'7" tall.
