Hotel owner, youth shot dead in separate incidents

Kolkata: A hotel owner in Asansol was shot dead on Friday night by two unknown shooters inside his hotel.

The accused persons fled riding a scooter after firing at least five rounds among which the businessman was hit four times. According to sources, the businessman identified as Arvind Bhagat, owner of a hotel on Sen-Raleigh Road in Asansol was sitting at the lounge around 8 pm on Friday when two persons arrived at the lounge and started firing at him. One of the shooters was wearing a helmet while the other was wearing a cap. The duo had come riding a scooter.

They shot Bhagat from a point-blank range four times while another bullet missed him. After the shooting, the duo fled riding the scooter. Bhagat was rushed to a private hospital in Durgapur where he was declared brought dead.

Controversy cropped up about how two miscreants shot a man and fled without any obstruction despite the place being near the state Law and Labour minister Moloy Ghatak’s house.

Also, a police outpost is located within a few hundred metres from the spot. Neelakantam Sudheer Kumar, Commissioner of Asansol Durgapur Police visited the spot and took stock of the situation. Police started naka-checking within a few moments of the incident across Asansol, Durgapur and its surrounding areas, till Saturday afternoon.

On Friday a team from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) visited the spot and started an inquiry. Though no official statement was given by the CID, sources informed that the investigation will be taken over by CID soon.

It is suspected that the miscreants may have fled to Jharkhand after committing the murder. Meanwhile, in Goalpokhor of North Dinajpur, a youth was shot dead by some miscreants while three others suffered injuries on Friday night. The incident reportedly took place after a scuffle due to a minor collision between a motorcycle and a car at Madinachalk area.