Police suspect that at least two of these men could be be involved in the shootout at Bandra station on November 4 in which a certain Abdul Gulam Rasool was killed and two men, Sikandar Siddique and Ramdas Sonawane, were injured.

This group of gangsters is also believed to part of the cartel responsible for the killing of Palkhi hotel owner Ramesh Shetty on November 1 and four other hoteliers at Navi Mumbai On November 3.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Param Bir Singh, today's encounter took place when the police intercepted a white Esteem in which the gangsters were allegedly trailing a bomb blast accused who had come to attend court at the Aurthur Road Jail compound in the afternoon. The police has refused to disclose the name of the last accused who was being followed.

At 5.45 pm the gangsters stopped to fill fuel at the petrolpump opposite Zandu Pharmaceutical on Sayani Road, Dadar (west). The police special squad which had recognised the gangsters in the car to be men owing allegiance to Chhota Rajan gang asked them to surrender at which point the gangsters opened fire. Four men died on the spot in this exchange of fire and one was left critically injured. All the gangsters were subsequently taken to the KEM hospital where the condition of the surviving gangster was stated to be critical.

The dead have been identified as Ravi Pujari, Raja Gore, Jairam Shetty and Vipin Khanderao. D K Rao alias Ravi Mallaya Vora has been injured in the firing.

For the people moving around in the peak hour rush the shootout seemed to be a macabre re-run of the shooting at Bandra station. ``There was a sustained burst of gunfire and before one could really figure out what was happening all these men were lying in a pool of blood,'' said an eyewitness.

Investigations have revealed that the gangsters killed were members of a gang of robbers whooperated in the western suburbs of Mumbai and that recently, after joining the Chhota Rajan gang they had become sharpshooters.

Incidentally, with today's encounter the tally of Chhota Rajan's men killed has gone up to four in the last ten days. Also, 24 gangsters have been killed in police encounters since the beginning of the year.