“We have started summoning Parmar’s arch business rivals, including Porbandar-based government contractor, Lalji Masani, for questioning.

Business rivalry is one of the suspected reasons behind the incident and we are only trying to ascertain it,” said Mohan Jha, Joint Commissioner of Police (Sector 1).

Forty-two-year-old Parmar was a contractor and used to deal in excavation, transportation of goods and cleaning work at various government construction sites.

Some unidentified person (s) had gunned down Parmar around 8.30 pm on Tuesday, when he was leaving his office in Sheel Complex near Mithakhali Six-roads. Parmar was shot at point-blank range on the head with a country-made pistol, the police said.

Parmar was a resident of Chandrapuri Apartment in Vastrapur and owned city-based Parth Earthmovers Limited. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

A complaint of murder has been registered with the Navrangpura police and investigations are underway.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Parmar had started taking contracts independently since 2004.

He had an exceptional professional growth in the last couple of years and had even broken several monopolies in the field. Parmar had grabbed a major contract earlier this month and had signed a government contract for Vanakbori thermal power plant recently, the police said.

Meanwhile, the police have roped in forensic experts to help them gather some clues about Parmar’s assailants.