A 47-year-old man who went to a liquor store in Dhakuria was allegedly beaten to death by one or more employees of the shop on Sunday afternoon after they fought over an issue related to payment, police said.
A CCTV footage shows a man resembling the victim — Susanta Mandal — being beaten by another man, who resembles an employee of Southern Store Liquor Shop on Gariahat Road, adjoining the northern landing of the Dhakuria bridge.
Mandal was taken to a private hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Prabhat Dutta, alias Tinku, who allegedly assaulted Susanta, and Prasenjit Baidya, another employee of the shop, were soon arrested.
As news of the fatal assault spread, a mob from the adjoining Panchanantala area ransacked the liquor shop, demanding that Prabhat be handed to them.
Later at night, the owner of the liquor shop, Debojyoti Saha, and an employee named Amit Kar were also arrested.
An officer said all four who are in custody were in the shop when Susanta was assaulted.
Susanta, originally from Shyamnagar in North 24-Parganas, was living at his in-laws’ house in Panchanantala, a slum area close to Golpark.
His wife Soma Mandal said Susanta was secretary of the Trinamul Congress-backed taxi union in Panchanantala and also drove a doctor’s car.
“He went to the market in the morning and brought the daily supplies. We had breakfast together and then he went out. He spoke to me around noon and said he was returning home. In the afternoon, we came to know that he was in hospital. He had been dead by the time we reached the hospital,” Soma said.
The police said Susanta had gone to Southern Store Liquor Shop around 3.10pm to buy liquor and got engaged in an altercation with the employees of the store over some payment-related matter.
“Employees of the store all of a sudden started beating up the man and pushed him in such a manner that he fell down on the road and received head injuries,” said joint commissioner (crime), Kolkata police, Sankhasubhra Chakrabarty.
Susanta’s 14-year-old son Souvik told The Telegraph that he was clueless about what happened in the shop that led to the tragic end. “I still cannot believe that someone would kill my father like this,” said Souvik, a Class X student. His elder sister Sneha is married.
Footage of a CCTV camera that the police said was inside the store shows a man resembling Susanta standing outside the shop talking to someone inside, through a small window through which payments are made.
Then a man inside the store wearing a black T-shirt is seen opening the glass door and getting engaged in physical contact with the man resembling Susanta and raining blows on him.
Susanta was taken to AMRI Hospitals Dhakuria around 3.20pm, where he was declared “brought dead”.
“The man suffered head injuries. He was declared dead on arrival. The police have said the body will undergo post-mortem tomorrow,” an official at AMRI Dhakuria said.
Agitated by news of the death, residents of Panchannatala blocked the Dhakuria bridge on Sunday evening. A large police force that was sent to the spot got the blockade removed.
Susanta’s family members and neighbours went to Rabindra Sarobar police station to lodge a complaint. A case under IPC sections related to murder and common intention has been registered based on a complaint lodged by Susanta’s father-in-law Gopal Chandra Das.
“Prabhat Dutta (an employee of the shop) has been identified as the person who assaulted the victim,” said an officer at Rabindra Sarobar police station.
Neighbours said Susanta was a “peace-loving man”.
“Dada was a peace-loving person. He never got engaged in any disputes or altercations. This incident has left us shocked,” said Chandan Sarkar, a resident of Panchanantala.
The bridge was blocked for 15 minutes but the protest continued for an hour. The crowd also ransacked the liquor shop, demanding that Prabhat, the prime accused, be handed to them, the police said.