A four-year family feud over business rivalry in Santa Cruz (east) resulted in a murderous attempt on Thursday night. Six persons, armed with swords, attacked four persons, including a youth. According to the Vakola police, the incident took place at around 10.44 pm near the main road outside Chaitanya nagar, next to Vakola bridge. The victims, Nitin Chavan (27) and his kin Anil Shinde (28), were seated near a shoe shop owned by the former. Chavan’s relative Manohar Chavan, who also owns a shoe shop nearby, arrived with six others, including three women. The main accused, Manohar (around 30), and his middle-aged aides Pradeep Naik, Kisan Shinde and Papa Khan attacked Chavan and Anil with swords. Chavan’s father Parbat (50), and his relative Gajanan Chavan also sustained injuries when they tried to intervene. By the time the police reached the spot, the three main accused escaped, but Papa Khan and his wife Mumtaz have been arrested. While three victims are out of danger, Anil is in a critical condition in Sion Hospital with grievous injuries. A case of attempt to murder has been registered and a search is on for the remaining accused. Senior police inspector, Vakola police station, Vinayak Mule, said, “Mr Parbat owns a shoe shop and Manohar has another shoe shop on the road opposite to it. They have been fighting for supremacy in business for many years now. Four years ago, the same members of the family had fought with each other. At the time, a case was registered. The accused in the old case are victims in the new case and vice-versa,” he added.
