``We are not ruling out anything at this stage. It could be extortion...it could be something else,'' said the joint commissioner of police (crime), R S Sharma.

However, a PTI report said that an underworld gang had called their office claiming responsibility for the murder. Rodrigues (23) had only recently joined the restaurant and had established a reputation of being ``good at his job.'' His colleagues said that he was hardworking and a team man. He hailed from a middle-class Christian family and stayed with his parents near Orlem Church, Malad (west).

No one in the Orlem Church neighbourhood could imagine why anybody would want to kill Rodrigues. People who knew him said that he was a genial youth and had no enemies. His parents, despite repeatedattempts by this reporter, refused to talk. Relatives who had started gathering in the house since morning said they (Rodrigues' parents) were too shocked to talk.

Some of his friends claimed that not only was Rodriques good at work, he excelled in sports, particularly in field games, too.

One arrested in Thane shootout

One man has been arrested in connection with the death of a 18-year-old boy who was accidentally hit when gangsters opened fire at a shop owner.

The Thane police have arrested on Sunday a Pradip Bijaji Satam (25) who had allegedly come to demand Rs 25 lakh from Patel Saree Centre owner in the busy bazaar area.

The state government had announced monetary relief to the Patil family. The police had formed a special squad of crime branch officers to hunt the gangsters. Following a tip-off, the police laid a trap at Modella tank and arrested Satam, a resident of Louiswadi area in Thane.