Shiv Sena man shot at near Big B’s film set

Mumbai, May 23: Unidentified assailants fired at a 45-year-old security agency owner at Film City in suburban Goregaon on Friday afternoon, leaving him critically injured, and creating panic on the sets of a Bollywood film and a TV serial where Amitabh Bachchan and others were shooting. No arrests were made till late on Friday evening. The police suspect business rivalry to be the main motive behind the attack on Raju Shinde.

He was rushed to Nanawati Hospital at Vile Parle.

Mr. Shinde is an active member of the Shiv Sena Chitrapat Shakha, the party’s film wing. Mr. Shinde was sitting outside Balaji Studio when he was shot at. “Two men arrived on a motorcycle. One of them fired three rounds at the victim. While one bullet hit the victim’s stomach, the other two hit the hip and the hand. Thereafter, they abandoned the motorcycle and ran away,” Additional Commissioner of Police Fateh Singh Patil said.

Several onlookers were present, but the fleeing suspects threatened to shoot others if they made any attempt to get hold of them.

As Mr. Shinde has many business interests, ranging from building sets for films and television to a cable television agency and security services, the police are questioning some of his rivals. Sources said he had bagged the contract for providing security to the Film City last year, and this did not go down well with some competitors. Furthermore, he was involved in the election for the Film City Union, and he could have made political rivals on the way, said another source.

The police have the CCTV footage of the incident, but it is of little help because the assailants had covered their faces with helmets. Mr. Patil said the person on whose name the motorcycle used by the attackers was registered was traced, but he claimed to have sold it to someone a few days ago.

Bachchan was shooting for Bejoy Nambiar-directed Wazir, while actor Alok Nath was shooting for a TV serial Mere Rang Mein Rangnewali. Both posted tweets. “Okay !! Shooting at Film City .. and a gang war shootout 20 feet from where we are ... !!1 dead .. cops all over ..” read Mr. Bachchan’s tweet, only to clarify later that no one was dead.