The hotelier brothers, identified as Kisandas Narayan Kurup (41) and Haridas Narayan Kurup (37), were at the counter when the assailants arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire. While the assailants first aimed at the brothers, they later turned their guns towards the customers. Among the injured were Govindan Kutty, employed as cashier with the hotel since 1962. He was leaving the counter after the morning shift when a bullet hit his right leg. Rajarao Hegde, a waiter, was serving a customer when the gunmen opened fire. He has been admitted to a nearby nursing home with a bullet wound in the thigh.

A customer too was injured in the firing. Fifty-nine-year-old R CFernandes had brought her granddaughter to nearby Municipal Hospital for a BCG dose when the child felt thirsty and she entered the hotel for a glass of water. Fernandes was hit in the back and has been admitted to Shetty Nursing Home.The Kurup brothers were rushed to Mulund General Hospital by the hotel staff, but were declared dead before admission. While six bullets hit Krishnadas's chest and abdomen, his brother Haridas sustained seven bullet wounds.

A source close to the Kurup family said the firing took place when the brothers were preparing to attend a court case related to a property dispute. They were to give evidence in the case today. The police are also not ruling out the property-dispute angle. Assistant Commissioner of Police D N Shrilale, after visiting the spot, said the double-murder had all the signs of a supari killing and confirmed that the hoteliers were locked in a dispute over a piece of land near the hotel.

Police have recovered eight empty cartridges from the spot which arebelieved to have been fired from 9 mm pistols. Reports received later in the day said the motorcycle-borne hitmen had also opened fire in the air near Janata Market in the neighbourhood. This was probably done to scare eyewitnesses. Meanwhile, tension gripped the residents of Bhandup and shopkeepers pulled down shutters between Mangatram Petrol Pump area and Bhandup police station.