Music baron Gulshan Kumar was shot dead yesterday minutes after he left the Shiv mandir at Versova society Bharat Nagar Link road, Andheri. Three unidentified men pumped eight bullets into Kumar before speeding away in a taxi. Four bystanders, including Kumars driver were injured in the shoot out in which nearly 15 rounds were fired. Kumar was a regular visitor to the temple.
Kumar was immediately rushed to Cooper hospital nearby but died soon after admission. The D N Nagar police station has filed a case of murder against the four unidentified assailants. The police are working on the murder motive. Kumars refusal to pay Rs 15 crore as protection money to the Abu Salem gang, could have fueled the brutal murder, they said.
The four injured, who were admitted to the Cooper hospital and the Arogya Nidhi hospital, both in Andheri, are Gulshan Kumars driver Ram Pal, a 15 year old Subhash Rawandal, a sculptor ,Madhukar Kawankar and Madan Sharma. Madan Sharma was the driver of a Sumo parked nearby.
The flamboyant Kumar founded and headed the T-Series music company which became one of the largest producers of music cassettes in the country.
The company had recently diversified into mineral water, washing powders and televisions.
The post mortem was performed at the J J Hospital in Mumbai. The body is being flown to Delhi and the cremation will take place today.
Emotional scenes were witnessed at the coroners court in the J J Hospital. A relative bemoaned, How could this happen to a man who believed so firmly in the mata, in a reference to his devotion to the goddess.
In fact he often used to punctuate his sentences with Jai mata di. A pall of gloom descended over the mourners as Gulshan Kumars body was brought in a police van for the post mortem. Mukesh Desai the chief executive of the company was in tears.
Home department sources said they were trying to establish whether the killing was due to gang war, personal rivalry or part of the extortion racket.
THE REIGN OF TERROR: A CHRONOLOGY
The extortion racket perpetrated in recent times by the Abu Salem gang has been another attempt by a ganglord to make a quick buck at the expense of cash-heavy businessmen, be it a music baron or textile magnet. The latest trend seen in Mumbai is the extortion racket run with remote control by Dubai-based don Abu Salem.
The chronology:
Sunit Khatau was killed in 1993 as result of dispute arising out of the sale of mill land. Khatau was expected to make crore of rupees as a result of sale of 300 acres of prime mill land within the limits of Mumbai city. By offering their services, the gangsters got a portion of the booty.
Thaikayyudin Wahid, the proprietor of East West Travels and Trade Links, was shot in 1995 supposedly by the Chhota Rajan faction. Wahid was known to be the henchman cum financier of Dawood Ibrahim.
Mukesh Duggal was next on the hit list and was killed in the first quarter of 1997. Duggal a film producer was known within the film industry for the dubious Dubai connections. His films were supposedly financed by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.
Veteran trade unionist Datta Samant was killed last year by hired killers. Police have no theory on his killing though he was known to possess tremendous clout with mill owners and workers.
In the last 45 days there have been two unsuccessful attempts on the life of film producers Rajiv Rai and Subhash Ghai.
They have been quoted as saying that these attempts have been as a result of refusal to pay protection money to the Abu Salem gang.
The Gulshan Kumar killing, too, is attributed to the Abu Salem gang.
