SODEPUR/HOWRAH: Ramua Murti Devar (49), the notorious Howrah gangster who shot into infamy in 1996 for severing the head of a rival goon in broad daylight and kicking it like a football on a field, was shot dead in front of his 6-year-old daughter and wife in his Sodepur flat early on Monday.Eight murder cases and several extortion cases were pending against him in Howrah.Police said a gang of eight miscreants raided the apartment building on three bikes shortly after midnight. They held Ramua’s son Sandip hostage, entered the bedroom, gagged Ramua’s wife Kajal and the couple’s 6-year-old daughter. One of them fired three shots at a sleeping Ramua, pumping one each into his head, chest and stomach. The miscreants then rushed down, set Sandip free and fled on their bikes.Kajal rushed out and screamed. Neighbours took Ramua to hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Barrackpore DCP Ananda Ray said, “We have detained five suspects for interrogation.”