Police said the shooting took place around 10.20 am when Cyrus Khodadad Irani was on his way to an agiary near Novelty Cinema. Barely had he stepped into the narrow Mehalla Patel Agiary Path when a hitman wearing a blue raincoat accosted him and fired five rounds at a close range. Irani was hit on the left side of his chest, in the nape, shoulder and forearm.

His driver, Kisan Zarapkar, who was waiting for him some 100 meters away, heard the gunshots and rushed to his employer's aid. The killer, however, raised his gun in a threatening gesture scaring everyone around, including the driver. He then hopped on to a waiting motorcycle and escaped.

Eye-witnesses said the entire operation lasted less than a minute. Irani was rushed to the Nair Hospital by hisdriver, but was declared dead before admission.

Investigations revealed Irani visited the agiary around 10 am every day before calling on his mother in the neighbourhood. He owned an office on the ground floor of Atash Apartment, barely 50 meters from where he was killed.

Senior Inspector A V Kamath attached to the D B Marg police station, said Irani had not informed them of any threats from gangsters. He, however, added that the killer's modus operandi indicated the involvement of an organised gang. A police officer attached to zone II special squad said the Arun Gawli gang could be behind the murder as Grant Road area is a known Gawli stronghold. Extortion, he said, could be the motive.

Irani, 40, a resident of Mittal Apartments at Worli, was the director of Faronar Leasing & Investment Pvt Ltd and also owned Dilbhar Hotel near Novelty Hotel. Though Dilbar Hotel is notorious in the area as a pick-up joint, police said Irani had leased it out two years ago.

Quite surprisingly, two hours after theincident life was back to normal in the predominantly Parsi residential area around the Mehalla Patel Agiary Path. Shops dealing in automobile spare parts were doing brisk business. But, quite predictably, nobody ``saw anything.''