Man shot dead over alleged business rivalry in New Town

Kolkata: A promoter at Patharghata in New Town was shot dead by some miscreants on Sunday night. It is suspected that the crime was committed over some business rivalry.

According to the locals, the victim, Chanchal Mondal was a speculator of land in New Town. He also used to measure land and prepare maps of those lands. Recently, he started promoting business.

On Saturday, two persons came to Chanchal's home at Mondalpara, Patharghata in New Town. They claimed to be coming from Rejinagar in Murshidabad and asked Chanchal to prepare a map of a land.

They provided the documents needed for the work and gave Rs 500 as advance. One of them gave a mobile number and claimed himself to be Rafikul Shaikh and left.

On Sunday afternoon, Chanchal's brother Debabrata, alias Debu, called Shaikh on that number and told the work was complete. They can take the map after paying the rest of the amount which was due — Rs 500. Shaikh told Debu that they would come around 7 pm.

Debu informed his brother that Shaikh along with two persons would come to their home around 7:30 pm.

When Debu handed over the map they asked where Chanchal was. As he was not there at that moment, Debu called his elder brother and asked him to come home. Within a few minutes Chanchal came and Debu went outside.

Chanchal asked them to move inside and sit but they refused. All of a sudden one of the persons, who came with Shaikh, took out a firearm and fired three shots aiming Chanchal. Three of the bullets hit Chanchal's stomach, chest and face. Debu claimed on hearing the gun shots he ran toward his home and found that the miscreants were about to flee. He obstructed one of them and a scuffle occurred. To free himself from Debu, the miscreant fired two rounds of bullets but missed. Later, he thrashed Debu on his head using the fire arm and fled.

Locals claimed two bikes were parked outside that were used by the miscreants to flee. Chanchal was rushed to a hospital near Haldirams where the doctors declared him brought dead. However, police have not confirmed the claims. According to the police, after preliminary investigation it was found that two persons entered the house and one was waiting outside with a bike. Debu's version was found to be self-contradictory.

Sources informed that the sleuths are trying to figure the motive behind the murder. It is suspected that Chanchal was murdered over some business rivalry. It is also assumed that the someone or some persons hired contract killers to murder Chandan. On Monday, the forensic team and the sleuths from the Detective Department visited the spot and collected samples. "Probe is on. Nothing could be said as the investigation is at an early stage. It is suspected that the murder was committed over some business rivalry," said Amit P Javalgi, Deputy Commissioner (headquarters) of

Bidhannagar Police.