The West Bengal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Wednesday arrested Muhammad Nasir Khan, an alleged criminal, from Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district in connection with the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manish Shukla at Titagarh in the same district on Sunday night.
This is the third arrest since the early hours of Tuesday. It is suspected that Khan knows the motorcycle-borne shooters who opened fire on Shukla in front of several people on a crowded BT Road around 8.27 pm on Sunday.
Forensic experts visited the spot on Wednesday afternoon. They collected some soil samples and calculated the possible trajectory paths of the bullets fired.
The shooters carried out the entire operation in 78 seconds, CID officers have found from security camera footage. During this short time they fired 18 rounds, of which more than seven hit Shukla in the head and torso. One round did not fire and the ammunition was found near Shukla’s body.
“He was fired at even after he had fallen. This indicates that the shooters wanted to ensure his death. They were professionals,” an officer told HT on condition of anonymity.
CID teams have conducted raids at several places in South 24 Parganas and Kolkata in search of the shooters and the murder weapons. A team has gone to Jharkhand as well.
Shukla, 39, was an outgoing councilor of the Titagarh municipality and also a lawyer at Barrackpore court.
Officials involved in the investigation said that Nasir Khan has several criminal cases pending against him. He was involved in running gambling operations and was accused in at least two murder cases in the past.
Khan was released on bail from judicial custody a few months ago. It is being probed whether he is an Indian national or an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh who procured documents to prove his citizenship, an officer said on condition of anonymity.
The father of Muhammad Khurram, one of the men arrested earlier, was murdered 10 years ago, said BJP leaders and the police. Shukla was one of the accused in the murder case registered in April 2010. The charges against him were later dropped.
It is suspected that Khurram tried to take revenge. He was earlier charged for carrying out attacks on Shukla. There have been four attempts on Shukla’s life between 2009 and 2018.
Sheikh Gulab, the second man arrested by CID, is suspected to have followed Shukla’s movements and passed on the information to the hitmen.
