The incident took place at around 10.15 am, when Sharma (35) was en route to the TADA Court in a Mahindra jeep (MH03 A 513). When the jeep approached the Jet Airways booking office at Telli Gulli, a white Maruti 800 which had been trailing Sharma's vehicle for some time suddenly overtook the jeep.

Eyewitness accounts and police said four gunmen emerged from the Maruti car and fired at close range. Sharma was hit in the head, chest and back and collapsed on the spot.

The assailants struck Sharma's driver, Sanjay Kantilal Shah (19), on the head with a pistol butt before fleeing from the scene of crime. Shah was later admitted to a local hospital and discharged after treatment.

A 9 mm empty cartridge has been recovered from the spot, hinting that the same caliber handguns have been used in thekilling.

Tension gripped the area after the shootout, and though there are several shops in the locality, most of the shopkeeprs preferred to remain silent. Others gave vague replies when questioned by mediapersons.

A bystander said he was alarmed when he heard the shots, but he could not see anything as the killers sped away quickly.

According to a senior police officer, the Chhota Rajan gang is suspected to be behind the killing. This belief is based on the theory that the gang had killed another J J shooutout accused Shantilal Patel in 1995.

Sharma had been accused of helping the JJ shootout accused after the shootout took place on September 12, 1992. He, along with Anil Amarnath Sharma, allegedly booked the BSES guest house at Bandra for notorious gangster Subash Singh Thakur and his associates. After the shootout, Sharma, along with Anil Amarnath Sharma, also flew in a defence aircraft with the then defence minister Sharad Pawar the same year.

Sharma also harboured two gangsters who wereinjured in the shootout and arranged for their medical treatment at Pakmodia Street in the city. The two later escaped in a car provided by the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Council chairman Jayant Suryarao. The official car picked up the injured gangsters from Pakmodia Street, along with gangsters Subash Singh Thakur and Sunil Sawant alias Savtya. The latter was later slain by rival gangster Chhota Rajan at Dubai in 1995.

Incidentally, Sharma is the sixth accused in the JJ shootout trial to have been killed in a shootout.