A 28-year-old scrap dealer from Ambivli village in Maharashtra's Thane district was attacked by a gang of criminals on suspicion of being a police informer, an officer said on Wednesday.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday when the victim, Jaffar Yusuf (Ashok) Irani, was having dinner at the Ganpati pandal in Lahuji Nagar slum colony.