Miscreants on motorbikes shoot trader in North 24 Parganas

Bike-borne miscreants shot a trader to death at Garapota-Kandipur in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas.

The incident took place on Thursday night when Arun Das, a 42-year-old trader, was shot twice from point black range.

Das was standing in front of his truck when the assailants shot him. He fell on the ground and the miscreants decamped from there. But they threatened the other traders before escaping from the spot.

Police started investigation and the sniffer dogs were brought in the area. The dogs started to run towards the main road, but suddenly lost the trail.

“The reason of the crime is still unknown. We suspect business rivalry may be the reason,” said a police officer.

The local traders called up an ambulance to rush the trader to a nearby hospital. He was declared brought dead there.

Further police investigation revealed Das was an exporter of Bangladeshi goods via India-Bangladesh border. But recently he was involved in a tiff with some of his business rivals.

It should be recalled that a cattle smuggler at Bongaon was shot similarly a year back while he was returning home. The investigators learnt that some local anti-social element s might be involved in the case. Manoj Shaw, the cattle smuggler was riding a motorcycle when he was attacked. The gun-toting assailants came from the opposite direction riding another motor bike, shot thrice and sped off from there.

“This area has become vulnerable to crime. Many anti-socials are plying freely here. Some cases were really horrible,” a police officer said.

However, Das’s family gave some important information to the investigators. “He was recently involved in money transferring trade. He was trying to lend people money during this period of demonetisation. He might have made some enemies,” the officer added.