Police sources revealed that Paste owned a beer bar at Malad and the firing could be a fallout of refusing to pay extortion money to the Ashwin Naik gang. The firing could have been carried out at the behest of Chikna Babu, Naik's right-hand man, sources added.

In another incident, one Parvez Alam alias Bhaiyya Babu was shot dead at Cheeta Camp which comes under the jurisdiction of Trombay police. Alam was standing near Janata Hotel at around 7.45 pm when three unidentified persons accosted him and fired six rounds at him. He was rushed to Shatabdi Hospital in Chembur where he wasdeclared dead. Three other passersby were also injured. According to police sources, Mohd Shakeel, a local goon, had recently gone on a recruiting spree for the Dubai-based gangster Abu Salem.

Following this information, the police launched a major offensive against the new recruits and other anti-social elements in the area. Shakeel was led to believe that Alam had provided information to the cops. Hence Shakeel wanted to get rid of Alam.