Man shot dead by friend at New Year party

Kolkata: A medical representative was shot dead by his friend at the latter’s house at Agarpara in North 24 Parganas during New Year’s Eve celebrations.

According to the police, the deceased identified as Rajesh Basu was invited by his friend Toton Roy Chowdhury at the latter’s house at Kadamtala on Sunday. When the deceased went to Toton’s house along with his son, the accused took the deceased to his home’s roof to comsume liquor to celebrate the occasion.

The police said the accused suddenly attacked the deceased and beat him. Bleeding, Mr Rajesh called up his wife Piyali to come to his friend’s house immediately. But the deceased’s son, who was downstairs in the accused’s home, rushed upstairs on hearing the gunshot and found his father lying on the roof, while the accused was absconding.

The son rushed the deceased to Panihati State General Hospital where he was declared brought dead. The police, who came to the spot informed as they were by Mr Rajesh’s son, sent the body for post-mortem. The police said that the accused fired at the deceased’s forehead from point blank range.

A murder case has been filed by the police. They also recovered a liquor bottle and two glasses from the spot. A youth suspected to have links with the accused has been detained by the police for questioning.

Preliminary probe revealed that the accused was harbouring a grudge against the deceased as a dispute has taken place between them three years ago.

Family members of the deceased, however, said that they never suspected that the accused carried a grudge against him. They recalled that he used to frequent their house and behaved well.