The 54-year-old patriarch of a family in Murshidabad’s Samserganj was shot dead on Wednesday in connection with a dispute with neighbours over a five-decimal parcel of land.

Imran Hossain, 54, was shot dead allegedly by family members of neighbour Zakir Hossain, 50, both of whom sources say had been embroiled in a two-year-old dispute over the five-decimal (around 2,200sqft) land.

Eyewitnesses said that on Wednesday morning Imran’s group had come to erect a boundary wall when a face-off occurred between the two families. “There was a face-off between two groups, and we could hear people crying that they would rather die than give up their land,” said a resident of the locality.

It is not yet clear how the clash escalated to firing, but Imran was gunned down and two of his family members — Mohammed Selim Ansari and Mobassar Sheikh — were injured by bullets fired from country weapons. They are undergoing treatment at Jangipur subdivisional hospital.

On Wednesday afternoon, over 100 Trinamul workers backed by the local MLA Amirul Haque began a dharna in front of Jangipur police station demanding the arrest of all accused persons.

The police have arrested four persons in connection with the murder in Dhulia municipality’s ward No. 13. “We responded to the incident immediately and scanned CCTV camera footage to make the arrests,” said Jangipur district police chief Y. Raghuvamshi.

Residents said though both the parties supported Trinamul, there were no political undertones.

MLA Haque echoed local sentiments and said: “Both the parties involved in the incident are Trinamul supporters, but we want the law to take its course.”