TMC councillor Sushanta Ghosh survives murder attempt in Kolkata

According to Kolkata police, one of the accused hails from Vaishali in Bihar

Trinamool Congress councillor from South Kolkata’s Kasba, Sushanta Ghosh, narrowly escaped a murder attempt on Friday evening after the shooter’s gun misfired.

In the video, two men on a motorbike can be seen approaching Mr. Ghosh, who was seated on a chair on the pavement outside his house at Kasba around 8 p.m. on Friday. The pillion rider gets off the scooty and rushed towards the councillor with a gun. However, when the gun misfired, he attempted to flee the spot.

“The case is under investigation. So far, two people have been caught in connection to this incident and further action is being taken,” Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Verma said on Saturday. “Of the two accused, the man holding the weapon has been found to be a resident of Bihar’s Vaishali.”

On Saturday, police officials said they have also detained the alleged ‘mastermind’ behind the incident. They added that more suspects, like a taxi driver who reportedly chauffeured the suspects in the city, are being investigated.

“When the boy pulled the trigger, somehow the gun did not fire. My companion pushed him, at which point the other suspect on the bike fled the scene,” Mr. Ghosh said on Friday evening. 

The Trinamool Congress councillor from the 108 ward of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation added that people from the area had also immediately rushed to the spot and had caught the boy with the gun.

“Based on the kind of gun he was carrying, I could understand that it wasn’t the work of a petty criminal. It seemed like a properly planned murder attempt,” Mr. Ghosh said. “From what I have heard, the suspect was sent here to kill me.”

Meanwhile, Firhad Hakim, mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, questioned the presence of inter-State criminals in West Bengal and urged the police to “act now”.

“Enough is enough… the culture of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, or Ahmedabad cannot be allowed here,” Mr. Hakim said. “Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly told the police to recover arms and stop inter-State criminals.”

On Saturday morning, Mr. Ghosh said that Trinamool leaders like Abhishek Banerjee, Mala Roy, Debasish Kumar, and Mr. Hakim had contacted him to offer support. “This incident happened because of someone’s vested interest, politics has nothing to do with this,” the councillor said on Saturday.

Published - November 16, 2024 05:51 pm IST