SEASIDE CRIME CLUE HUNT
A TWO-day police search along the Great Ocean Road has failed to return the evidence police hoped would lead them closer to solving the drive-by shooting of a man in Melbourne.
Four specialist police officers, using metal detectors, spent hours scouring a patch of burned land 500m off Eastern View Lookout near Lorne yesterday looking for evidence linked to a firearm previously seized by investigators.
Muhammed Yucel, 22, was shot and killed while playing video games in the garage of a Keysborough house in May last year and detectives believe the Comanchero bikie gang is responsible.
Police believe Mr Yucel’s death was a case of mistaken identity.
He died after he was struck in the chest by a bullet, while two other men, aged 23 and 22, received single gunshot wounds and were taken to hospital.
The evidence search along the Great Ocean Road was a surprise twist in the case, and police have not said if they would continue to search other parts of the road.
Forest Fire Management Victoria staff conducted the burn near Lorne on Thursday as detectives watched.
“Investigators are currently in possession of a firearm that has now been forensically linked to the shooting and today’s burn is a search for further evidence in relation to that,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said on Thursday.
“They also have information that a grey Toyota Corolla may have travelled to the area around the time of the shooting and would like to hear from anyone who saw this vehicle in the area at the time.”
A police spokeswoman said late yesterday that nothing was found during the search and that detectives would not return to that site over the weekend.
The search came less than a month after Mr Yucel’s family made a plea for information.
His death was the first of two bungled contract killings linked to the Comanchero last year.
In August, Zabi Ezedyar was executed as he visited the Narre Warren home of Mongol-linked criminal Mohammad “Afghan Ali” Keshtiar.
In February, former gang member Robert Ale survived a shooting attempt at a Hampton Park tattoo parlour that was linked to jailed Comanchero boss Mick Murray.