Lucknow, Dec 16: Two motorcycle-borne youths shot at the owner of a marriage hall in Lucknow’s Thakurganj area on Tuesday.
Faisal Ali, a resident of Sa’adatganj area, was shot in the abdomen when he came out of the marriage hall on Campbell Road to attend a phone call. The assailants drove away after injuring him. Faisal was rushed to the CSMMU Trauma Centre by his neighbours, where his condition is stated to be critical.
It is not known who had called Faisal because his cellphone went missing after the incident. His family, however, believes that Faisal was attacked because his brother Mazhar Ali, who works in Saudi Arabia, had ignored a call for extortion.
A month ago, an unidentified man had called up Mazhar and demanded Rs 10 lakh. The man threatened to kill his brother or son — both of whom are in Lucknow — if he did not pay up. An FIR was then lodged at the Sa’adatganj police station.
Ten minutes after Tuesday’s incident, Mazhar Ali received another call and a man informed him that they had shot his brother. The caller told Mazhar that if he still did not pay up, they would next shoot his son, said Faisal’s uncle Abdul Rasheed.
“I have given the police the number from which Mazhar had received the call,” he added. The police, however, said the call which Mazhar received on Tuesday’s was made by a neighbour — he had called up to tell Mazhar about the attack on his brother. The neighbour also made similar calls to other relatives of Faisal, said an officer.
“I spoke to Mazhar Ali in Saudi Arabia and he confirmed that the caller had only intimated him about the incident,” Thakurganj Station Officer Hemant Rai said.
–Agencies