The gangster who can't shoot

Having misfired twice at builders Prashant Rao injured a worker on his third assignment he and two other Lakdawala gangsters were arrested yesterday If not for all number three has certainly spelt misfortune for accused gangster Prashant Rao A rookie in the gang of underworld don Ejaz Lakdawala Rao is yet to prove his mettle in gangland But he may not get another opportunity to do that anytime soon Gangster boss Ejaz Lakdawala showed immense faith by giving his gang member three chances to kill Prashant Rao failed twice only injuring a worker the third time He along with two other gang members was arrested yesterdayAfter a third failed attempt to extort money from builders cops finally got him in their net He is currently in the custody of Mumbai Crime Branch who arrested him yesterdayMisfiring misfitThe 32yearold is one of three members of the Lakdawala gang arrested by Crime Branch Unit III for opening fire at the construction site of Nirvan builders at Peerkhan Street in Nagpada on October 1u00a0Rao mastermind of the plan was arrested along with Nilesh Jatanna 24 who lives in Dahisar and Riyaz Sheikh 43 a resident of Jogeshwari Sohail Majid a 23yearold worker had sustained injuries in the firing PolicespeakAccording to Joint Commissioner of Police Crime Himanshu Roy Lakdawala ordered the firing after the builder had refused to pay him extortion money Police have recovered four pistols and nine live rounds from the accusedRao met his accomplice Jatanna at a religious establishment in Dahisar where the duo indulged in drug abuse togetheru00a0Rao convinced Jatanna to join the gang while his other accomplice Riyaz shouldered the responsibility of keeping the weapons safeThe three will be produced in court today Rao who met Ejaz Lakdawalas brother Iqbal a year ago expressed interest in working for the gang Iqbal introduced him to Ejaz and he was roped into the gang First chanceIn February this year Rao was given a sum of Rs 25000 to shoot the owner of Shah Group at Galaxy building Sector 17 Vashi Navi Mumbai Lakdawala also gave him the weapon However he ended up misfiring A case was registered in the Vashi police stationSecond chanceBut Lakdawala reinstating faith in Rao gave him a second chance and assigned him the task of firing at the Chunawala builder in DN Nagar Andheri in July He gave Rao Rs 20000 as goodwill amount But Rao misfired again Another case was registered in the DN Nagar police station Unlike many others Rao was lucky to have his second mistake forgivenThird chanceLakdawala for a third time gave him an even higher amount of Rs 50000 for firing at a builder in NagpadaOn October 1 Rao giving a slight rise to his performance graph managed to injure one worker at the site and even succeeded in fleeing from the spot with two of his accomplicesHowever despite escaping the wrath of underworld bosses Raos flight has now been cut short by the Crime Branch The third shotSources said that the southeast Asiabased fugitive Ejaz Lakdawala had made extortion calls to the proprietor of the 36yearold real estate firm who he had ordered Rao to shoot on October 1 The developer who is known for his proximity to Karachibased fugitive gangster Chhota Shakeel allegedly refused to give into Ejazs demands provoking the gangsters anger media reports saidLakdawala had made many extortion calls to the developer since September and ordered Rao to open fire outside the construction siteu00a0 to create fear to extort money