15 October,2023 07:50 AM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
Azim Aslam Sayed and Firoj Rafiq Shaikh
An unidentified bike-borne assailant opened indiscriminate gunfire at two cousins on Bhiwandi Road on Friday night. Both the men - Azim Aslam Sayed, 30, and Firoj Rafiq Shaikh, 27 - are the residents of Virar and were on the way to their hometown in Malegaon on a scooty when they were attacked.
A total of six rounds were fired on them, but the assailant's face could not be seen as he was wearing a mask. The incident took place around 9.30 pm, and villagers rushed to the crime spot after hearing the gun shots.
Sources told mid-day that both the men were writhing in pain and their clothes were soaked in blood when the villagers rushed them first to a nearby clinic in Bhiwandi, before they were referred to a private hospital in Thane. The medical practitioners finally referred them to the Sion Hospital in Mumbai.
Speaking to mid-day, Firoj's father Rafiq said, "My son was riding the scooty and Azim was his pillion. Immediately after the incident, Azim called me and narrated the incident despite being seriously wounded by the gun shots on his thigh and abdominal area. When I asked about Firoj, he said nothing can be seen in the dark and that someone is firing at them indiscriminately."
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"I got scared and rushed to the spot. By the time I reached there, they were taken to hospital. The assailant was all alone and he was wearing a mask. The assailant left behind his red-colored motorcycle on the scene of crime and ran away after villagers started to gather at the spot," Rafiq said.
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The bullet has broken Firoj's jaw, who was yet to be operated at Sion Hospital at the time of going to press. The cops have confiscated the red coloured motorcycle bearing registration number MH04DX6746, and are trying to trace the accused.
The office in charge at Padagha Police Station did not respond to mid-day's calls and messages. Further, Superintendent of Police, Thane Rural Vimkram Deshmane chose to remain tightlipped.
"The cops from Padgha police station had come to record the statement of the victims but they were asked by the doctors to wait, as the conditions of both
the injured men are said to be critical," said a source at the hospital.
