Shahid Azmi, the defence lawyer for 26/11 accused Faheem Ansari, was shot dead by three persons in his office at the Taximen's Colony in Kurla (West) on Thursday evening, reports the Mumbai newspaper DNA.
According to the police, Azmi was in his office with a peon when, at around 7.45pm, three persons entered and shot five rounds at him from point-blank range.
Four bullets pierced the 32-year-old criminal lawyer's chest and he was killed instantly. According to the peon, who was present in the office at the time of the incident, the assailants fled on foot after the shooting.
The police said that two imported weapons, a pistol and a revolver were used in the firing, indicating that it was not the handiwork of any local or small-time criminal.
Azmi was rushed to the Rajawadi hospital where he was declared dead before admission. The post-mortem report was awaited at the time of going to the press.
Azmi, who rose to fame quickly as a criminal lawyer, had a disturbed past. A victim of the December 1992 communal riots, he was barely 15 years old when he was picked up by the Govandi police for allegedly indulging in violence a few days after the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.
As a teenager he was arrested and convicted under the now-defunct Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and given a five-year sentence in 1999. But he was acquitted by the Supreme Court later in the year.
After clearing his name of terror-related charges, Azmi did his LL.B from KC College and later completed his LL.M as well. He found it difficult to enroll himself as a lawyer with the Bar Council, but finally got registered after convincing the authorities that his gray past was no reason to deny him the black gown.
Four years ago, on October 18, 2006, Azmi had said that he was being threatened by the underworld.
Azmi was then defending Faizal Sheikh, the alleged mastermind and executor of the serial train blasts on July 11, 2006.
Azmi had then wanted to meet the police commissioner A N Roy. He was carrying a copy of the complaint he had filed a day ago at the Kurla police station. His complaint said he had received a phone call from a person claiming to be from the Ravi Pujari gang.
He looked restless. "I received the call at 7.14 pm on Tuesday [October 17, 2006] from phone number 02225449658," Azmi said. "The caller told me I will be gunned down outside court just like the two undertrials." Azmi was referring to the shootout outside the sessions court. Two undertrials, facing charges of drug running, were killed. One of them was a police informer.
"The police commissioner has refused to meet me. The constables at the citizen's facilitation centre say that complaints and applications are not accepted after 4.30 pm," said Azmi. "Who is to be blamed if they [the underworld] execute the threat?" Why was he being targeted, I asked. "I don't think it's only me. This is not the first threat I have received," said Azmi. "A month ago, I received a call warning me not to represent the blast accused." Azmi said an anonymous caller had told him his movements were being monitored and that he would be killed at his residence or office in Kurla.
He also said the man who had been asked to execute Pujari's threats had visited his residence to confirm his address. "My brother told me a young man had come home asking if I lived there. Today, I was being followed all day," Azmi said.
