Ahmedabad: Two gangsters owing allegiance to underworld don Chhota Shakeel, planning to disrupt the traditional Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra and assassinate two Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including a Cabinet Minister, were on June 23 shot dead in the sensitive walled city area.

Crime Branch sources said the Mumbai-based gangsters identified as Ganesh Khunte and Mahendra Jadav were planning to disrupt the programme, as also assassinate two BJP leaders Gujarat Law Minister Ashok Bhatt and former Minister Bharat Barot.

The incident has blown the lid off "yet another attempt by Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) to carry out subversive activities in the state in active connivance with India's underworld", the sources said.

The gunmen were confronted by the sleuths in sensitive Panchkuva area of the walled city in a pre- dawn operation carried out on a specific information, officials said adding, "they were killed in the cross fire".

"The incident is a clear sign of ISI's nefarious design to destablise the nation as they had planned to assassinate Hindu leaders and instigate communal passion in the city," joint commissioner of police (crime branch) P P Pande said.

"It was a changing trend by underworld to use Hindu gangsters to target leaders of majority community," he said, referring to the gunned down gangsters.

PTI