Meanwhile, Patel whose condition was said to be stable at a private hospital here had not yet given his statement to the police. But according to official information, no one had so far been detained or interrogated. Mahapatra, however, claimed that the case was being examined minutely and was hopeful of significant progress soon.

Patel, the city-based builder, was shot at from pointblank range allegedly by a hired hitman in Alkapuri on Wednesday morning It was about the fifth sensational land-related crime to have been committed in the city in the past five years.

Official sources claimed that while there were several land-related crimes which went unreported the ones which were on police record were of one Kanti Kori, a resident of Makarpura, who was seriously injured and Ashok (Patel) Bhogi, a resident of Race Course, who was killed. Also, one Dhananjay Patel, a builder residing in Waghodia road area, Sanmukh Shah and A Gupta were abducted following land disputes in city.

It was also learnt that the police would add Section 120-B IPC (criminal conspiracy) to the case of attempt to murder and had taken detailed information from Patel's family members including his nephews Lalit and Ashok. A watch was also being kept on the movements of some of the persons named in the complaint, official sources said.