Ahmedabad: A long-running financial dispute culminated in the murder of a 32-year-old man in broad daylight on Ahmedabad’s busy Relief Road on Sunday, leaving commuters shaken.Police identified the victim as Jayshankar Rajput, a resident of Hatkeshwar, and the accused as Shakib Salim Sheikh of Vatva. Investigators said the two had been at odds over a monetary transaction for some time.According to police, Sheikh called Rajput near Paththarkuva on Relief Road to discuss the dispute. What began as a conversation soon escalated into a heated argument. Sheikh allegedly pulled out a knife from his trouser pocket and launched a sudden attack on Rajput.Witnesses told police that the accused repeatedly stabbed the victim before he could defend himself or flee. Several blows were allegedly inflicted on the upper body, causing Rajput to collapse on the road. Panic spread in the area as people ran for safety while others gathered around the injured man.The attack occurred on a stretch that remains crowded throughout the day with shoppers, vendors, office-goers, and motorists. Bloodstains were visible on the road by the time police arrived.Personnel from the Karanj police station found Rajput lying in a pool of blood. After doctors declared him dead, his body was sent for a postmortem examination.Assistant commissioner of police Hirendra Chaudhary said, “The accused fled after the attack. However, police teams traced and detained him shortly afterwards.”The murder adds to a series in Ahmedabad in recent months. On June 2, a man was killed outside Gulberg Society in Meghaninagar in broad daylight, while in April, police cracked the case of the murder of a 55-year-old labourer whose body was found in the parking area of a residential complex in Memnagar.Police are examining CCTV footage from Relief Road and recording statements of witnesses to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to Sunday’s killing.
