Officers probing the murder of fire department employee Snehasish Roy in front of his apartment block in Lake Town on Thursday said the gun used to kill him had been taken on rent from a man who allegedly runs a business of renting out arms.
A man named Sanju Mondal was arrested from Ghola in North 24-Parganas early on Monday by a team of officers from Lake Town police station and the detective department of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.
An officer of Bidhannagar police said Mondal had supplied the country-made 7mm pistol that had been used to kill Roy.
“We have recovered the gun from the possession of Sagar Haldar, the mastermind of the crime,” said Bishop Sarkar, deputy commissioner in charge of the Bidhannagar zone of the police commissionerate.
The police arrested Haldar early on Sunday, along with his friend Tanmoy Paul, alias Rahul, for allegedly plotting Roy’s murder.
The two had allegedly hired Ayush Sharma, 18, Afroz Ansari, 22, and Akash Mullick to gun down Roy and Rs 1 lakh was promised to them for the job.
The police picked up Sharma and Ansari on Friday. Mullick was arrested on Saturday.
“Prima facie it appears Haldar had hired contract killers to eliminate Roy because he thought his wife was having an affair with Roy,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar police. “Haldar was also angry with Roy because he thought Roy was responsible for the loss in his lottery business.”
Asked if Haldar was responsible for last year’s failed attempt on Roy in Dum Dum, the officer said he would not comment on that.
“I will not comment on last year’s attempt. But I can say that we have found some leads regarding the Dum Dum incident, which we have shared with the Barrackpore Police Commissionerate,” the officer said.
Roy, who was a peon in the state fire and emergency services department, was posted at Dum Dum fire station when the attempt was made on his life in June last year. He was then transferred to New Town fire station.
Deputy commissioner Sarkar said on Monday that they have found two single-shot country-made guns in Sanju Mondal’s house.
The police are investigating from where Mondal had sourced the guns and if they had been used to commit crime.
“We have questioned Mondal and have found that he was in the business of renting out arms. He would charge rent for a gun on a daily basis,” another officer said.
Mondal, booked under the arms act, was produced in a court in Salt Lake. He was remanded in police custody for four days.
Roy was shot dead in front of his house in Lake Town while he was parking his motorbike after having brought his daughter back from school. The 12-year-old was the first to raise the alarm around 4.15pm when she saw her father collapse near his motorcycle.