Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: A 33-year-old man was murdered late on Monday over an old rivalry at Paithan Gate. The deceased, identified as Imran Akbar Qureshi of Sillekhana, was dragged on the road and stabbed repeatedly in front of onlookers. The main accused, mobile shop owner Parvez Shaikh (36), was arrested by police around 1.40am on Tuesday while attempting to flee the city.
According to eyewitnesses, Qureshi, who worked as a land dealer and ran several small businesses, lived with his family in Sillekhana. At around 10.30pm on Monday, he and his brother Ibrahim visited Shaikh’s shop, SS Telecom, in the Paithan Gate area, where a heated argument broke out over an old dispute. The verbal exchange soon escalated into a violent fight.
Shaikh and his accomplices attacked Qureshi and Ibrahim with sharp weapons. Qureshi was stabbed multiple times on the neck, ear, and stomach, and was dragged along the road as the attackers continued assaulting him. He collapsed in a pool of blood, and the assailants fled the scene.
A large crowd gathered soon after. On being alerted, DCP Pankaj Atulkar, ACP Sagar Deshmukh, Crime Branch Senior PI Gajanan Kalyankar, Kranti Chowk PI Sunil Mane, and City Chowk PI Nirmala Pardeshi rushed to the spot.
Tension escalated in the area as an unidentified group began pelting stones, damaging several vehicles, including auto-rickshaws, cars, and two-wheelers. Police deployed a riot prevention squad at Paithan Gate after receiving information that relatives and friends of the deceased were heading to the area.
Despite appeals from the police to maintain peace, tension continued until midnight both at Paithan Gate and at the Government Medical College and Hospital, where Qureshi’s body was taken for post-mortem.
