LUCKNOW, Feb. 18 -- Five days after the broad daylight murder of Shoaib Mahmood Qidwai alias Bobby, who was alleged to have been a close aide of the late mafia don Mukhtar Ansari, investigators are piecing together what senior police officials describe as a "highly synchronised operation" with digital footprints and CCTV trails forming the backbone of the probe. Bobby was shot dead on February 13 at around 1:15 pm while driving alone from Lucknow to the Barabanki court complex. Unidentified assailants intercepted his vehicle on a busy highway stretch near Asaini turn and fired multiple rounds, killing him on the spot. Vikas Chandra Tripathi, Barabanki additional superintendent of police, north, said the focus has now expanded beyond external criminal rivalry to examine whether there was prior knowledge of the victim's movement. "We are analysing all communications before the incident. Certain calls made shortly before the attack are under scrutiny," the cop said. According to senior officers privy to the probe, Qidwai had spoken to a person known to him minutes before the shooting. His call detail records (CDRs) are being matched with cell tower locations and CCTV timestamps to determine whether the assailants could have received real-time information about his route and timing. Investigators are also examining tower dumps from the corridor where the attack occurred to identify suspicious or unfamiliar mobile numbers active during the time window of the crime. "We are mapping devices that appeared briefly in the area and then went inactive. That pattern is often seen in targeted attacks," a senior officer said on condition of anonymity. htc...