The Bengaluru police on Monday arrested two men accused of shooting a real-estate businessman in KR Puram. The two accused allegedly shot at the businessman on Saturday night. According to the KR Puram Police, Sohail Pasha (23) and Shoaib (19) were arrested on Monday. The duo allegedly shot Babu alias Auto Babu with a country-made pistol and also attacked him with a machete. After the arrest, the investigating officers seized the pistol, the machete and a car from the suspects.
According to the police, Sohail and his friend Mirza used to sell samosas till late in the night on a pushcart close to Babu’s office. The office is located in Arundathi Colony in KR Puram. Babu had allegedly gotten angry at Sohail and Mirza on multiple occasions as their business had caused vehicles to be parked outside his office till late in the night blocking the path to his office. The businessman had allegedly complained to the building owner many times. The latter then asked Sohail and Mirza to remove the pushcart, which inadvertently started affecting their business, the police added.
The police said that they knew about the ongoing fight between Babu and the two street vendors over the last few months. Four months ago, the trio had gone to the police station. While Babu accused the vendors of impeding his business, Sohail and Mirza allegedly complained of harassment. The police had issued them a warning and asked them to sort out the issue among themselves.
According to the KR Puram Police, Babu allegedly hired some men to attack Sohail and Mirza on Ramzan. To exact revenge for the assault, Sohail allegedly shot at Babu on Saturday night and attacked him with Shoaib's help.
The businessman is undergoing treatment and is said to be out of danger. Sohail and Shoaib were arrested from a village near Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district on Monday and remanded to judicial custody. “We are trying to find out from where they sourced the pistol,” the police added.
A case of assault and attempted murder has been registered at the KR Puram Police Station.
The police, however, said that they are still probing whether Mirza was also involved in the attack.