2 min readLucknowFeb 14, 2026 09:23 AM IST
A former aide of slain gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari was allegedly shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants on the Ayodhya highway in Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, police said.
According to Barabanki Superintendent of Police Arpit Vijayvargiya, 51-year-old Shoaib Kidwai alias Bobby was returning from Lucknow in his car when the assailants allegedly intercepted his car and opened multiple rounds of fire at him.
Hearing the gunshots, local residents rushed to the spot, but the attackers had already fled on a motorcycle, police added.
Upon receiving information, police teams reached the spot and took Shoaib to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him dead. The police have since launched a search operation in the area and are scanning CCTV footage from nearby locations in an effort to identify and trace the assailants.
The motive behind the murder is yet to be ascertained but preliminary information suggests the possibility of internal rivalry or a gang war behind the killing, officials said, adding that this angle is being probed.
Shoaib Kidwai alias Bobby had around 12 criminal cases registered against him, including two cases of murder and two under the Gangsters Act. Among the most prominent cases was the 1998 murder of Lucknow jail superintendent R.K. Tiwari. However, he was later acquitted in that case.
Shoaib, who hailed from a well-off family, was also engaged in the property business in addition to his other activities, officials added.
(With PTI inputs)
