TMC councillor murder attempt: 2 held, Bihar connection uncovered

Kolkata: Kolkata Police arrested two individuals in connection with the attempted murder of Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillor Sushanta Ghosh on Friday evening, including Afrpz Khan, also known as Mohammad Iqbal, who is believed to be the primary conspirator behind the crime.

“We have so far arrested two persons in connection with the incident. The person who had fired the bullets at the victim is one of them. The shooter is a resident of Baishali, Bihar. We are interrogating them for further leads in this case. The motive of the crime is being ascertained,” said Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma.

The sleuths had arrested one Yuvraj Singh after he was caught red-handed by some locals who were at the spot when the bullets were fired.

On interrogating him the police learnt that he was offered ‘supari’ by one Mohammad Iqbal for intimidating Ghosh.

However, the 9 mm pistol that was given to Yuvraj did not function during firing. Interestingly, Yuvraj has told the cops that he was offered Rs 10,000 for the murder attempt. When the name of Iqbal cropped up during interrogation the police sealed all possible routes of his escape. He was detained from Galsi in Burdwan while he was trying to escape on a motorcycle to Jamui in Bihar.

According to sources, Yuvraj along with two of his allies had come to Kolkata from Bihar on Friday. They reached Howrah by train and then took a cab and came to the Kolkata Port area, where Iqbal had made arrangements for their stay.

Police, on Saturday, also arrested the taxi driver in whose cab, the miscreants had moved in different parts of the city in the morning.

Yuvraj was produced at Alipore Court on Saturday and was remanded to police custody till November 29. The cops are looking for his two allies.

Mayor Firhad Hakim who visited the councillor’s Kasba residence on Saturday late afternoon, expressed her anguish over miscreants from other states being involved in the incident.

“Enough is enough. Why inter-state criminals are entering our state and why are firearms from other states coming here? Where is police intelligence?” Hakim questioned.

Ghosh claimed that TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee as well as the party’s national general secretary had called him up and enquired of the matter.

Other senior leaders of the party also extended their support to him. The security of Ghosh has been strengthened and a guardrail has been placed infront of his residence.