The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday arrested two people in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manish Shukla, The Indian Express reported. The police said they suspected the killing was motivated by a personal vendetta and called it a “murder for revenge”.
“Two have been arrested, investigation is on,” a police official told the newspaper. “Motive seems to be a personal rivalry or revenge, however it’s too early to say anything.” The accused were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to murder and criminal conspiracy.
The Telegraph, however, reported that three people have been arrested so far.
Shukla, an outgoing civic body councillor in North 24 Parganas, was shot dead on Sunday by four motorcycle-borne masked assailants at Titagarh in North 24 Parganas district. The BJP accused the Trinamool Congress for the attack, a charge that the ruling party has denied. The inquiry into the case was handed over to the CID, even though saffron party leaders demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
The accused, identified as Mohammad Khurram and Gulab Sheikh, were remanded to police custody for 14 days. They were were arrested after a team of investigators tracked down two motorcycles used by the assailants, based on the CCTV footage from the night of the assault.
The police said Khurram, a Titagarh-based businessman had hired Gulab for the murder. Nazir Khan, the third man who was also reportedly arrested, was a close associate of Khurram as well, according to The Telegraph.
During interrogation, the police learnt that Khurram and Shukla had not been on good terms with each other ever since the deceased BJP leader was named as one of accused for the killing of Khurram’s father.
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The police said Shukla’s name figures in 16 criminal cases, including cases of murder and attempted murder. Besides this, investigation revealed that Shukla used to carry a pistol for “personal safety” and his arms licence was cancelled earlier this year, according to the Hindustan Times.
An unidentified police official told The Telegraph that the assailants had been tracking Shukla’s movements and he had roamed in the area where he was attacked several times over the past few weeks. “They also had specific tip-off that Shukla’s bodyguard was not around for almost a week and he had been moving around unarmed ever since the police had seized his revolver claiming it had a fake licence,” added the officer.
The arrests were made after the BJP leader’s father, Chandra Mani Shukla, filed a first information report in which he named seven people, including Trinamool Congress leaders Prasanta Chowdhury and Uttam Das. While Chowdhury is the Titagarh municipality chairperson, Das is the chairperson of Barrackpore municipality.
“We are still looking for a few others who may be involved in this case,” a senior CID officer told The Telegraph. “But primarily, this doesn’t appear to be a case of political murder.”
Meanwhile, the primary autopsy revealed that bullets hit Shukla seven times in the face and chest. The BJP leader had 14 injury marks on the body.
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