Kolkata: Police investigate failed murder attempt on TMC councillor Sushanta Ghosh using fake plate scooter
Times of India | 19 November 2024
CCTV grabs of the failed murder attempt on Sushanta Ghosh on Friday evening. The scooter that the criminals rode was procured only weeks before the attempt, said cops KOLKATA: The scooter that the assailants involved in the failed murder attempt on councillor Sushanta Ghosh rode last Friday was procured only weeks before the attempt, and a fake number plate was used to outwit the police cameras tracking them.
Cops probing the murder attempt said they identified the registration number of the scooter from CCTV footage while trying to trace the other assailant who fled on the scooter and is still on the run. However, they found it was fake, and upon interrogation, Md Afroz alias Gulzar, the alleged mastermind of the attack, told cops that he changed it on the day of the crime to avoid police detection.
"We have found that Afroz bought the scooter from a person a few weeks ago. We have identified him, and he is being questioned," said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.
Police investigations found that the shooters hired by Afroz belonged to the dreaded Pappu Chowdhary gang in Bihar. "All of them are trained shooters. In fact, Yuvraj, the shooter who was caught, was the only novice. The others have more than 30 criminal cases of murder, kidnapping and rioting lodged against them. We are trying to arrest them at the earliest," said the officer, adding that a team of Kolkata Police detective department has already been sent to Bihar to trace them and find more details about them.
Police added that Afroz told them he promised a payment of Rs 50 lakh to the Pappu gang upon completion of the job, and an advance of Rs 2 lakh was already paid, after which the shooters were sent from Bihar.
Police probe found that Afroz has multiple criminal cases of cheating lodged against him at Anandapur PS. "We are also checking his criminal records in Bihar and if he has any direct connection with the Pappu gang," said the officer.
Cops said they were also verifying Afroz's claim that he hired contract killers to take revenge on Ghosh over a contentious 2,000 square feet warehouse, which he claimed belonged to him and was usurped by a close aide of Ghosh, Haider Ali. He claimed Ghosh didn't intervene despite repeated pleas, which triggered the revenge plot.
"There is a constant attempt to dilute the matter and mislead the investigation by floating this theory of land dispute. The land dispute and problems pertaining to land and bheris have been a persistent problem in Gulshan Colony for the past 15 years. I have been a councillor of this place for only two and a half years. I cannot take responsibility of what happened prior to that. During my tenure, I have tried to ensure no bheris are filled up in this area," said Ghosh on Monday.
He even added that the building where Afroz claimed the warehouse was located was itself built on a govt vested land and questioned how he could get possession of the same. Zulqarnain Ali, a local promoter and a known strongman of Gulshan Colony, is the promoter of the building. "I have all relevant papers, and I can show them to all concerned authorities," Ali told TOI.