Police suspect at least five persons were involved in the shooting inside the jewellery store in Barrackpore, in North 24-Parganas, that left the owner’s son dead and the owner and an employee injured on Wednesday evening.
No one was arrested till Thursday evening. Police said CCTV footage shows four men entered Singha Jewellery House, located in Barrackpore’s Anandapuri, one of whom took out a gun and fired.
The gang tried to rob jewellery and other valuables and opened fire when owner Nilratan Singha, his son Niladri and two employees tried to resist.
The Singhas and an employee suffered bullet wounds. They were taken to hospital, where Niladri was declared dead.
The police said the footage shows one of the men was wearing a helmet and the others were wearing surgical masks.
Two of those who were wearing masks were also donning caps.
“The one who was wearing a helmet took out a gun from a blue bag a few minutes after the group entered the store,” said an officer of the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate.
Officers said two emptycartridges of 7mm-bore bullets have been found at the spot.
The police have learnt that a few minutes before the incident, a youth who works independently as a hallmark designer had entered the store for two minutes.
The police have started a case against unknown persons under Indian Penal Code Sections 396 (dacoity with murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons), and under the arms act.
Section 396 of the IPC is applied only when the police suspect five or more persons were involved in the crime.
The body of Niladri, who got married in December, was sent for post-mortem on Thursday.
Sources said the family that runs the jewellery store in a crowded neighbourhood had taken the property on rent from the owner of the building. “We are trying to find out whether there was any dispute related to the showroom,” said an officer.
The police said they were trying to find out whether the sole motive of the gang was dacoity. “All possible angles are being investigated,” the officer said.
The police said on Thursday that it was still not clear if anything was missing from the store.