A 22-year-old man, who is part of a construction materials supply syndicate active in Dum Dum andBarrackpore, has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the killing of fire department staff member Snehashis Roy.
Roy was shot in front of his house in Lake Town’s Green Park on Thursday afternoon.
Akash Mullick, 22, was picked up early on Saturday from a place in Sodepur’s Ghola, a senior officer of Bidhannagar commissionerate said.
According to the officer, Mullick had allegedly given the firearm to Ayush Sharma, 18, and Afroz Ansari, 22, the two suspected contract killers who had allegedly gunned down Roy while he was parking his motorcycle.
Sharma and Ansari were arrested on Friday from two separate places in Rahara and Titagarh, both in North 24-Parganas.
“Akash (Mullick) is part of a gang that had targeted Roy and planned to kill him. He was also part of a team that had conducted reconnaissance in the area and had taken note of Roy’s movements as well as the nearest exits,” Bidhannagar police commissioner Gaurav Sharma told Metro on Saturday.
Another senior officer said they tracked down Mullick after questioning Sharma and Ansari.
“Akash (Mullick) had sourced and given to Sharma and Ansari the firearm that they used to shoot in Roy,” the officer said.
On Saturday, Mullick was produced in the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Salt Lake.
Public prosecutor Mohammed Shabbir Ali sought a 14-day police remand for him.
Mullick’s lawyer, Subhajit Saha, sought bail on the ground that no firearm had been recovered from him.
“The murder weapon, a firearm, has not been recovered and the police need to question Mullick in their custody so that the firearm can be recovered as it is a crucial piece of evidence,” public prosecutor Ali told the court.
The court sent Mullick to a four-day police remand.
A senior police officer said they were tracking another man who is key to the investigations.
Before getting a job at the fire department, Roy used to supply building materials to construction projects in the area and was known as a local tough.
He also used to run several “side businesses like a catering service”, the police said.
Roy had faced a gun attack in June last year, but the bullet had missed him that time.
The police suspect that members of the same gang have pulled another hit this time that resulted in his death.