LUCKNOW: A history-sheeter and close aide of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was allegedly shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants on the Ayodhya highway in Barabanki on Friday, police said.
The deceased, identified as Shoaib Kidwai alias Bobby, 50, a resident of the Civil Lines area of the district town, was known to be a member of the Mukhtar Ansari gang. Multiple cases of murder, extortion and other gang-related offences had been registered against him, according to police sources.
Sources claimed that following Ansari’s death, an internal power struggle had led to personal enmity within the gang.
According to police, the incident occurred in the Kotwali area near Asaini Mod on the busy Ayodhya highway when Kidwai was returning to Barabanki from Lucknow in his car. The attackers allegedly intercepted the vehicle and opened indiscriminate fire at close range, leaving him critically injured.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The assailants fled the scene after carrying out the attack, and efforts are under way to trace them, officials said.
Kidwai’s name had earlier surfaced in the murder case of Lucknow jailer RK Tiwari, where he was listed as an accused by investigating agencies. Police said he had been facing multiple criminal cases.
Preliminary information suggests the killing may have stemmed from internal rivalry and a possible gang war, officials added, noting that this angle is also being investigated.
Following the incident, security was tightened across the district, with additional police personnel deployed in sensitive areas. Senior officers visited the scene and inspected the site, while CCTV footage from nearby locations is being examined to identify the attackers.
According to Barabanki Superintendent of Police Arpit Vijayvargiya, initial investigations indicate that the attack appears to have been premeditated. A forensic team collected evidence from the scene, and raids are being conducted to apprehend the suspects, he added.
Kidwai was also a lawyer. Lawyers staged a protest at the district hospital, creating a ruckus and demanding the arrest of the attackers within 48 hours.
He is survived by his wife, Shazia Khan, and his 15-year-old son, Armaan Kidwai, a Class 9 student in Lucknow.