UP gang targeting realtors?

After the attempted attack on former corporator and realtor Samiulla, threat calls and hate mails from the underworld to real estate agents and property developers has become increasingly common. So much so that it is difficult to say which is genuine and which a hoax.

Property developer Anil got a ransom call for Rs 4 lakh through SMS with the caller threatening to "eliminate" him if he squealed to the police. There was no follow on calls though, but all the same Anil went ahead and tipped off the cops. A complaint has been lodged with the Ashoknagar police station and investigations are on.

In another incident, realtor Gurumurthy too received a SMS threat from some unidentified caller, who called in again and repeated the threat. Gurumurthy did not flinch, and has lodged a complaint with the Tilaknagar police who are investigating into the matter.

According to a senior police official connected with the investigation into such ransom calls, the caller could belong to a gang based in Uttar Pradesh.

While the boom in the city's real estate has attracted all kinds of people to this lucrative business, it has also attracted the underworld. In the most high profile incident in the recent past, around four months back, two unidentified killers masked with full face helmets came on a motorbike to Shabnam Developers, the real estate office of Samiulla, and pumped six bullets from a .9mm pistol at point blank range, killing Ravi, Samiulla's right hand man on the spot, and grievously injuring Shylaja in her abdomen and ribs. The killers had apparently come in search of Samiulla, but he narrowly escaped death, as he had left the office a few minutes ago for a site inspection. The Mastermind: Underworld Don Ravi Poojari.