Pune (Maharashtra), Jan 5 (IANS): In a shocking development, an unidentified gunmen shot at least three bullets at the notorious gangster Sharad Mohol in the Kothrud area here on Friday afternoon. Mohol was rushed to the Sahyadri Hospital, where he succumbed during treatment, officials said.
According to preliminary information, the shooting took place near his residence in the busy Sutardara, Kothrud, around 1.15 pm when the shooter, along with another, came there on a motorcycle and started firing indiscriminately at Mohol.
They accused quickly sped off from the vicinity, sending shockwaves in the state’s cultural, academic and IT capital.
Mohol, 40, who sustained at least one bullet injury, was seen bleeding profusely by locals and was rushed to the nearby private Sahyadri Hospital for treatment.
According to official sources, the bullet hit him in the upper right part of his torso and he was immediately operated upon but he later succumbed to the injuries.
The exact motive behind the attack is not known yet, but prima facie, police suspect it to be a business dispute arising out of intra-gang rivalry.
Later, Mohol's body was shifted to the Sassoon Hospital for an autopsy where a large number of his supporters gathered and created a ruckus even as the police tightened security in and around the hospital.
The Kothrud Police is lodging a murder case and a team along with senior officials rushed to the spot to investigate the crime.
The police are scanning CCTV footage of the vicinity, cordoned off the crime spot, are questioning eyewitnesses and launching a massive hunt for the shooters.
Incidentally, Mohol's wife, Swati had joined the ruling ally Bharatiya Janata Party in April, 2023 in the presence of Minister Chandrakant Patil, and the Mohol couple was regularly seen in various public events in the city.
A history-sheeter, Mohol had more than a dozen serious criminal offences in different police stations in the city, spent nine years in jail, secured bail in some cases and was externed from Pune district at one point.
Sharad Mohol was the younger brother of the notorious mafiosi Sandeep Mohol, who was also shot dead on a Pune road in October, 2006.
Earlier working as the driver of his older sibling, after his death, Sharad entered the underworld and virtually lorded over the city till his own killing today.