PRAYAGRAJ, April 9 -- Making a mockery of official efforts, a spate of violent incidents allegedly involving members and associates of the IS-227 gang and slain don Atiq Ahmed has exposed the continuing grip of organised land crime in Sangam city.

On Wednesday evening, 47-year-old property dealer, Mohammad Irfan, was shot dead in broad daylight in the Kareli police station area. A resident of Enuddinpur Gauspur, Irfan was seated at a roadside tea stall at around 6.30 pm when six masked men arrived on three motorcycles, opened fire with chilling nonchalance and escaped within minutes. The manner of the killing revived fears that contract shooters linked to old mafia networks are still operating freely in the district.

The murder was not ...