Business partner arrested in New Town shootout case
Times of India | 2 September 2024
KOLKATA: Probing into the murder of a businessman from Bhangar who was shot from point blank range in New Town on Saturday night, police have arrested his business partner on Sunday. Cops claimed the business partner had hired contract killers following a fallout with the businessman, Nasiruddin Khan, over spoils of their profit from the business.
Khan (27), had been operating a brick kiln at Bhangar and was also into the business of coal for the last two years.The arrested accused, Kazi Rafikul Islam alias Parag was his business partner and according to his family and employees, the two had a tiff recently after Islam had failed to explain spendings of Rs 70 lakhs, his family members have told police.
Police said on Saturday, Rakiqul called Khan to the tea stall near a Ram temple behind Eco Park to discuss the accounts. While they were talking and having tea together, two miscreants arrived on a motorcycle and shot Khan at point-blank range. He was hit in the head and chest.
“As of now, it looks like murder has been a fallout of the business trouble between the two. Khan’s family members and employees also spoke of the same following which we picked up from his home in Haroa in north 24 parganas. There were multiple discrepancies in his statement and he was subsequently arrested,” said a senior officer of Bidhannagar city police.
On Saturday night, Khan was shot dead at point-blank range by two bike-borne assailants in New Town on Saturday night. Police said the incident took place around 10.10 pm outside a tea stall near the Ram temple adjacent to the giant Hanuman statue, located behind Eco Park. Khan had just got out of his car and was standing outside the tea stall when the incident happened.
Witnesses said the two men were wearing helmets and masks and the one sitting on the pillion came close to Khan, confirmed his name before training the gun at his head and pressed the trigger.
“The men had fled towards Sulanguri. There are no CCTVs at the very spot where the shootout took place but we are scanning other CCTVs in the area to track them down,” said the officer. Cops said they found the two men had started trailing his car from Polerhat off Rajarhat before they shot at him at New Town.
Tahera Mumtaz, Khan’s mother said she had last spoken to him in the evening and said Khan was with Islam since afternoon and branded him as the prime suspect when cops spoke to her after the death.
“I was trying to call him from 9pm but his phone wasn’t reachable. Later in the night, I was told by police that he was dead. He was with Islam through the afternoon and I know he had started having problems with him after there was a mismatch of close to 70 lakhs of profit money. I still can't believe he killed my son over the dispute,” Mumtaz told reporters.