Mangaluru, Jan 14: The two assailants who stabbed Target Gang leader Ilyas to death on Saturday had entered his flat in the city under the guise of guests.
31-year-old Ilyas, the youngest of the five children of fancy jewellery seller Ismail, had changed house thrice to avoid attacks by his rivals, according to sources in the police.
Initially he was operating from his native place in Ullal. He headed the Target Gang that was involved in cases of extortion since 2006.
Ilyas moved to a house in Katipalla soon after his marriage. Nearly a year, he had moved to Miftah Galore apartment on Kudupady road in Jeppu area. In the same apartment he was murdered.
His aides, Safan and Dawood, who went out of the gang to form their own gangs, became Ilyas’ rivals. He was in prison for the last few weeks in connection with an assault on Dawood. Just three days ago he had secured bail.
The assailants, who are said to be associates of Safan and Dawood, came to Ilyas’ house when his wife had gone out to a clinic. She had left her two-year-old child with her mother. Ilyas’ mother-in-law and brother-in-law were present when the attack happened.
According to eyewitness accounts, the assailants came to the third floor of the apartment at around 9 a.m. They asked Ilyas’ neighbours about where he lived. Ilyas’ mother-in-law, who opened the door, without knowing the visitors’ intention, guided the assailants to the room where Ilyas was lying on the bed.
As she went to prepare tea for the visitors, the assailants attacked Ilyas on the chest and left the house even as his mother-in-law screamed.
Ilyas, who suffered a deep-cut wound on the chest, died of the injury in a private hospital at around 10 a.m. Following autopsy, the body was taken to Ullal where the last rites were performed in the evening.
The police said that they are on the lookout for four persons involved in the murder. While two persons assaulted Ilyas in the house, two others were waiting outside the apartment, the police said.
The police said that associates of Safan had abducted 24-year-old Safwan from Chokkabettu on October 5, 2017 and murdered him as he was said to be passing on information to Ilyas. The decomposed body was found in the Agumbe Ghats on November 27, 2017.
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