Kolkata shocker: TMC leader Debabrata Mondal, once accused in Bally green crusader’s murder, shot at on same spot 14 years later
Times of India | 29 November 2025
HOWRAH: Fourteen years after green crusader Tapan Dutta was shot dead in Bally, his follower-turned-alleged co-conspirator was shot at from a close range - almost on the same spot - around 10.30 pm on Thursday.
Debabrata Mondal, Sanpui-Basukati panchayat head and Trinamool leader, and local Trinamool worker Anupam Rana suffered bullet injuries in the attack at Sapui Para-Basukati in Howrah City's Nischinda Police Station area. Mondal was hit in the lower abdomen and chest, while Rana sustained wounds in the leg and chest. Both were first taken to Belur State General Hospital and then shifted to SSKM Hospital, where they remain critical after surgery.
The attack bears an eerie resemblance to the killing of Dutta on May 6, 2011. Dutta was shot dead for protesting illegal land filling. CBI is now probing the case, which was handed to the agency 11 years after the murder. His wife, Pratima, had alleged that he was targeted for opposing the "illegal" filling of water bodies near their home in Bally.
Mondal, once a follower of Dutta, later became one of the accused after Pratima named him as a co-conspirator in the case. On Friday, Pratima told TOI: "The firing on Debabrata was meant to silence him and cover up the murder of Tapan Dutta, especially since the CBI questioned him aound five days ago."
Mondal and Rana were returning home from an event on Thursday night when two assailants on a motorcycle approached him near Buro Shibtala and opened fire. Both collapsed on the road, severely injured and bleeding. Locals rushed them to hospital.
Howrah police commissioner Praveen Kumar Tripathi visited the spot. Police sources said five rounds were fired, hitting Debabrata in the abdomen and shoulder and Rana in the chest. DC (North) Biswa Chand Thakur said an investigation was under way to determine the motive and identify those involved. CCTV footage is being reviewed, and searches are being conducted in multiple locations.
Howrah district Trinamool leader Guddu Khan said "BJP-backed land sharks" had been trying to fill wetlands and ponds in the area, and Debabrata had opposed this. He claimed, "They had earlier threatened Debabrata."