Underworld attack on movie mogul J P Datta foiled

Underworld attack on movie mogul J P Datta foiled
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JUNE 24: After the murderous attack on Rakesh Roshan, prominent Bollywood producer-director J P Datta today narrowly escaped becoming the underworld target when officers of the crime branch foiled the attack and shot dead an Abu Salem hitman near his office at Juhu this evening.

According to the police, a special squad attached to unit-10 of crime branch under Assistant Commissioner of Police Ambadas Pote laid a trap at Juhu area after receiving information that some Abu Salem gangsters were planning to attack Datta this evening, the police further added.

Around 5 pm two gangsters were seen astride a black Yamaha motorcycle near Sai Baba Tower behaving suspiciously. When the duo made a detour the squad tried to intercept them and asked them to surrender.

Sources revealed that one of the hitmen shouted `Raju bhag'(Raju flee) as the two men fired four rounds in a bid to escape. However, the pillion rider was seriously injured in the subsequent exchange of fire, sources added.

His unidentified associate managed flee from the spot leaving the motorcycle and the wounded hitman behind. The wounded gangster was later rushed to Cooper Hospital, where he was declared dead before admission, the police added.

The slain gangster has been identified as Vajid alias Raju, a hireling from Uttar Pradesh. He was wearing a pair of jeans, blue T-shirt and expensive sport shoes at the time of the encounter.

A country-made revolvers and four live rounds have been seized from the deceased. The police have also recovered a diary having names of some prominent persons, including film personalities.

The police squad comprised of Inspector Sunil Deshmukh, API Raju Pillai, API Rajan Ghule, Allad Gaikwad and Shantaram Ghogle.

Incidentally, Datta's office is located on the first floor of Sai Baba Tower. The police could not confirm whether the target was inside his chamber at the time of the incident.

Investigators are questioning eyewitnesses to establish the identity of the gangster, who managed to give the police a slip.

Even as police are investigating the case, it is suspected that the Salem men could be targeting Datta for extortion money on the eve of release of his latest blockbuster Refugee. The film starring Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor is scheduled to be released on June 30.

Datta's earlier film Border was a box-office hit making him a potential target for gangsters. The underworld is known to target producers on the eve of the release of the film and another glaring case in point was Rakesh Roshan.

Roshan too was attacked by Salem gangsters on January 21, a few days before the release of his box office hit Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.