Unidentified assailants opened fire at the residence of prominent shoe baron Shekhar Dey only six months after his older brother was shot to death in the Sakchi area of Jamshedpur. The incident occurred two days after police filed a chargesheet in court against hotelier Vinod Singh, one of the accused in the Ashis Dey murder.

On Thursday morning, the attackers arrived on two-wheelers and fired several rounds at random, creating panic in the neighbourhood. Although armed constables stood guard outside the house, they did not return fire and the shooters managed to get away. No casualties were reported.

Police sources indicate that the attack was intended to terrorise the family and to hamper the ongoing investigation into Ashis Dey’s death. The brothers co-owned Sreeleathers, a shoe company with a chain of shops in New Delhi, Kolkata and Ranchi.

Ashis Dey had faced harassment from extortionists for several months before his death. His murder on November 2, 2007, triggered widespread protests by businessmen and local residents prompting police to go on overdrive to apprehend the killers.

Police conducted narco-analysis and brain-mapping tests on prime suspects Vinod Singh and Amlesh Singh in Bangalore recently, based on information given by another accused, Jitendra Singh alias Pappu Don, during a narco test in Bangalore about three months ago.