‘Cold, calculated, terrifying’: Who was Mohammed ‘Afghan Ali’ Keshtiar?

Mohammed Akbar Keshtiar had a way with guns and a volatile temper.

It was a recipe for disaster for anyone Keshtiar believed had slighted him – and his ultimate undoing.

Mohammed Akbar Keshtiar.

Keshtiar – known as Afghan Ali – died in hospital after being shot at multiple times while walking along Almeida Crescent, South Yarra about 11.40pm on Friday.

Police say the 53-year-old’s death – after he was shot in a laneway off the Chapel Street retail strip – was a targeted attack and fear it could prompt an escalation in the recent violence between Melbourne’s gangs.

Keshtiar was born in Afghanistan and spent most of his youth there before moving to Pakistan for several years.

He migrated to Australia as a 19-year-old and became a hard worker, from a respectable and law-abiding family, holding various jobs in the security industry for about a decade.

But Keshtiar grew up during a time of violent war in Afghanistan, where it was relatively common for people to carry weapons, and he became familiar with guns from a young age.

In Melbourne, he first came to the attention of police in May 2000 over an incident at the Dome nightclub in Prahran. A judge later described the altercation as cold, deliberate and terrifying.

Keshtiar punched a nightclub employee in the face after some jostling broke out near the club’s back door.

He and a friend left the Dome, but walked around to the front where Keshtiar pulled a handgun from his pocket and pointed it at the face of another employee, before shooting him in the thigh.

Police at the scene of Keshtiar’s shooting in South Yarra on Saturday morning.Credit: Joe Armao

Keshtiar spent a short time on remand over those charges but was bailed.

It was while awaiting trial that he was charged with two counts of attempted murder.

The Supreme Court heard Keshtiar was in a romantic relationship with a woman he had met socially.

A court heard he rang his girlfriend late on January 18, 2003, and told her he was coming over.

He then rang a close friend and asked to meet nearby to get some drugs. The pair met up before going back to the woman’s Burwood home.

All three sat in the loungeroom with the TV on when Keshtiar began arguing with his girlfriend, accusing her of being unfaithful.

The friend sat quietly as the argument between Keshtiar and his girlfriend continued until he produced a .357 Magnum revolver and began firing.

Keshtiar hit his girlfriend once and his friend three times, leaving him with life-threatening injuries.

“Look what you’ve made me do. I hope you are f---ing happy,” Keshtiar yelled at his victims before inexplicably calling triple-zero and expressing concern for their welfare.

But despite cooperating with police, by the time the case reached court, Keshtiar was pointing the finger at another man – underworld figure Sam Zayat, who had been shot dead in a Tarneit paddock.

A jury didn’t believe him and found him guilty of two counts of attempted murder.

Keshtiar was found guilty of assault and intentionally causing serious injury in September 2003 over the nightclub incident. He pleaded guilty at the same time to possessing anabolic steroids.

Zabi Ezedyar.

For both crimes, Keshtiar was jailed for 15 years and six months with a non-parole period of 12 years.

Both judges who dealt with Keshtiar expressed reservations about his prospects of rehabilitation. They noted it was hard to explain why Keshtiar had gone “berserk” in both situations.

“There is still a further element of irrationality attached to the events at Burwood. That arises from the relatively extreme switch you made from berserk gunman intending to kill to co-operative care-seeker acting to preserve life,” Justice Bernard Teague said of the attempted murder.

One possible explanation put forward was Keshtiar’s penchant for mixing illegal drug use with steroids.

Keshtiar served most of his sentence in the maximum security Barwon Prison where he was viewed as an influential prisoner who still had a hand in both the bikie and northern suburbs crime scenes.

Before his release he aligned himself with the Mongol bikie gang and was even touted as a possible leader upon his release.

In 2017, 26-year-old plasterer Zabi Ezedyar was gunned down in Melbourne’s south-east, after becoming the victim of a botched hit targeting Keshtiar soon after he was released from prison.

Ezedyar was being greeted at the front door of Keshtiar’s parents’ home about 7.45pm on ­August 16 that year and was shot several times from behind. He died on the footpath outside.

Homicide squad detectives said at the time that while the gunman had gone to his intended address, he had wrongly shot Ezedyar.

Police later described Ezedyar an “innocent party” and said his killing was a case of mistaken identity. Model turned Comanchero bikie boss Hasan Topal was investigated as a person of interest over the killing but no charges have been laid.

When Keshtiar did eventually get out of prison – long after his first official release date had passed and after dodging an assassination attempt, he sunk into the background of Melbourne’s crime scene and kept below the radar.

That is until his time officially ran out on a South Yarra street.

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