On a tip-off, a police squad attached to unit-VIII of the Crime Branch under Nitin Vichare laid a trap along the Andheri-Sahar Road. Dadi was spotted near the Indian Oil Corporation depot in the area around 1.30 am.

According to police, Tambe was asked to surrender. However, in the subsequent exchange of fire, the gangster was hit in the chest. Tambe was taken to Cooper Hospital, but declared dead before admission.

Investigations have revealed Tambe was arrested in 1997 and a revolver recovered from him. The same year, he was believed to be behind another incident at Goregoan, but managed to evade arrest.

The police have named Tambe in the murder of Akhil Bhartiya Sena activist Bharat Mhatre's murder at Nagpada last year. Tambe is also suspected to be the key marksman in the Vilas Mane murder in 1997 and behind the gunning down ofGawli's key associate Nandu Fighter.

Meanwhile, at around 4.30 pm today, two unidentified persons entered Topaz bar in Girgaum and asked for the owner Parvez Seth. When they were told he was not in the hotel, the two men allegedly barged into the discotheque and fired three rounds at the mirror before making good their escape.