Indian trader gunned down

An Indian businessman, who survived an ambush 10 years ago, was gunned down by a still unidentified assailant in Caloocan City yesterday morning.

Police said that Rai Bansal, 60, of Barangay 55, Caloocan City, was shot repeatedly while riding his motorcycle along Teodoro Street near 5th Avenue in his neighborhood at 11 a.m.

Initial investigation showed that the gunman was also riding a motorcycle during the attack. Four bullet casings for a .45-caliber pistol were collected by homicide investigators at the scene of the crime.

Senior Superintendent Chito G. Bersaluna, Caloocan City chief of police, said that Bansal was a survivor of a 2006 ambush in which his companion died and two of the assailants – both Indians – were arrested.

Injured in the attack, Bansal went for an out-of-court settlement with the group of Indians tagged as the suspects in the ambush in 2006.

Bersaluna said the motive in yesterday’s attack is still under investigation and one of the angles being pursued is Bansal’s alleged involvement with fixers in the Bureau of Immigration (BI).