Two persons were shot dead in separate incidents in North and South 24-Parganas over the past 24 hours.

In North 24-Parganas’ Jagaddal, a Trinamul activist was shot dead on Saturday afternoon. Rohit Das, 25, who worked in a jute mill, was allegedly killed by one of his friends after a brawl at a drinking party near his home past midnight.

Police and family sources said that the victim, a resident of Santiniwas Pally in Jagaddal, had left home for night duty at the mill. On the way, he met three of his friends and joined a drinking party where he was allegedly shot dead.

Around 2am, family members heard gunshots near their home and found Rohit lying in a pool of blood on a nearby road. He succumbed to injuries on the way to Jagaddal hospital.

The police, on the basis of the dying statement of the victim, arrested three of his friends including one Karan Yadav, who allegedly pumped two bullets into Das’s lower abdomen.

However, the motive behind the murder could not be discerned by the police prima facie. Jagaddal police have started a murder case against the trio, who were produced before a court in Barrackpore and taken into two weeks of police custody.

Earlier on Saturday, civil contractor and Trinamul activist Mohammed Salamuddin Ansari alias Mukul was shot dead by unidentified miscreants.

The deceased was a close aide of local Trinamul MLA Somnath Shyam. None of the suspected accused could be arrested as of Sunday afternoon.

In the Rajpur-Sonarpur area of Narendrapur under South 24-Parganas district, businessman Bhola Das, 37, was found shot dead at his home in Ward 31 early on Sunday.

The police said one of his family members during the early hours noticed that blood was seeping out from under Das’s door. He was found lying in a pool of blood inside the room. He was taken to a local hospital where an attending doctor declared him brought dead.

The death of the businessman has created concern in the locality as police could not ascertain whether he was killed or committed suicide. Police sources said the door of the victim was left open “mysteriously” last night and his body bore bullet injuries to the left knee.

“He actually died from the huge loss of blood being left in a bullet-ridden state for a long time. We are examining all aspects behind the death including the possibility of suicide since the deceased was suffering from a mental disorder. However, in that connection, no firearm has been traced yet,” an investigating officer of Narendrapur police said.