Goa, Aug. 13 -- In the dead of night, the Margao-Colva belt turned into a war zone. Armed men with swords,koytas, and guns descended on the quiet Mungul stretch, leaving two young men bloodied and a car riddled with bullet holes. The brazen attack, carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, has shaken Salcete and stoked fears of a dangerous escalation in Goa's gang rivalries.

Police said the victims, Rafiq Tashan (24) and Yuvkesh Singh Badaila (20), were travelling along the Margao-Colva Road when their car was intercepted near Shagun Restaurant at around 2:45 am. The assailants - identified as Akshay Talwar and Rahul Talwar (both from Borda), Wilson Carvalho, Shahrukh from Davorlim, Rasool of Margao and about 15 masked accomplices - arr...