The members of the first gang have been identified as Sanjay Sakharam Kadam (30), Kundan Gopalsingh Negi (24), Vijay Chandrakant Mahadik alias Raju (29), Shyam Tambe alias Savio Rodricks (28) and Prashant Kudalkar alias Bhanu (22). While the leader of the gang, Mahadik, was arrested by Crime Branch Unit 3 on Monday, the other four accused were arrested on August 8. They have been remanded to police custody till August 14.

According to the police, at 5:05 pm on July 21, firing took place outside the Pfizer office in Turbhe, Navi Mumbai. Some members of the company’s employees’ union left the office in a Toyota Innova, when their car was suddenly blocked by a blue Maruti 800 (MH-01-T-4389). Three shooters got out of the Maruti 800 and opened fire on those inside the other car.

“Santosh Sawant, the General Secretary of the Pfizer Employees’ Union, was shot in the back, while Santosh Bhonsle, the president of the union was shot in his shoulder. Both were rushed to a hospital and survived the attack. The arrested gang was responsible for the firing that was motivated by union rivalry. They are also involved in a crime that took place near Mahakali Temple in Vakola on May 15, in which former corporator Arjun Singh Ujala Singh (65) was stabbed in the leg when he came out of the temple with his son-in-law. A disputed SRA project was at the heart of this attack,” said Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, Rakesh Maria.

According to the police, Kadam, a resident of Azad Nagar in Andheri, has seven previous cases registered against him including robbery, attempted dacoity and extortion. He was arrested by the Crime Branch in a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) case in which he spent three years in jail and was released on April 12. Mahadik, a resident of Bandra, was arrested in the same MCOCA case and released from jail on the same date. Negi, a Mulund resident, has four previous cases registered against him. Tambe, the driver of the Maruti 800, is a resident of E Moses Road in Worli, and has two previous cases against him.

“The accused left the Pfizer office, and headed to Sanpada Bridge where they dumped the Maruti 800. They then travelled in a Tata Indica to Mankhurd. This car was driven by Kudalkar, who took the vehicle to Mahadik’s house in Bandra with the weapons inside,” said Maria.

Acting on a tip-off, the Crime Branch arrested the second gang of contract killers from Pandurang Budhkar Marg near N M Joshi Marg. The arrested accused have been identified as Jeetendra Poddar (21), with a previous extortion case against him, Ganesh Jadhav (19), Rajesh Jadhav (19) and Sunil Narvekar alias David (32).