Pub owner shot dead in Bengaluru; gang rivalry suspected

A pub owner in Bengaluru died after he was shot at in the heart of the city on Thursday (October 15) night. Unidentified men opened fire at Manish Shetty, who owns a bar near Brigade Road, around 9 pm.

Manish Shetty, 45, had a criminal record, the police said. Gang rivalry could be the reason for the murder, they said.

Shetty was reportedly a close associate of Morocco-based fugitive underworld don Bannanje Raja.

Bannanje Raja was arrested in February 2015 in Casablanca in Morocco in an alleged fake passport case. The fugitive has around 48 criminal cases of murder, attempt to murder, kidnap and extortion against him in the state, including the December 2013 contract killing of BJP leader and mining businessman RN Nayak in Ankola in broad daylight.

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The police suspect that members of the Rashid Malabari gang might have carried out the attack, as this is their typical style of murdering rivals in the coastal region of Karnataka, where single barrel gun is often used by gang members to eliminate their rivals, unlike the Bengaluru underworld which often uses machete or sword to eliminate its rivals.

The police said Shetty was wanted in several cases of robbery and murder in Mangaluru and Udupi districts.

The police said the deceased Manish Shetty aka Sarvatham Shetty was the owner of Duet pub on RHP Road off Brigade Road in Bengaluru.

Shetty belongs to Koppa village in Chikkamagaluru district.

Speaking to reporters, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central division), MN Anucheth, said that around 9 pm, an incident of shooting was reported in the Cubbon Park police station limits.

“Shetty, aged about 45 years, was shot at by unknown bike-borne assailants in front of his bar located on RHP Road,” he said in a statement released to the media.

Shetty was shifted to the Mallya hospital for treatment but the hospital declared him dead.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru city Police Commissioner Kamal Panth, who visited the spot, told reporters that the preliminary investigation pointed at the Managluru rivalry connection. “We have definite clues, we will arrest the culprits soon,” he said.