Two newly elected councillors from Trinamul and the Congress were shot dead on Sunday evening in two separate incidents in North 24-Parganas’s Agarpara and Purulia’s Jhalda.

Both victims were shot in the head from close range.

In Agarpara, Trinamul councillor Anupam Dutta, elected from ward 8 of Panihati municipality, was shot dead by four unidentified assailants when he was supervising work at a park.

Police and local sources said the assailants fired at Dutta’s head from close range, killing him instantly. Trinamul supporters blocked BT road at several points, demanding the arrest of the assailants. Shops and business establishments shut down.

Police could not ascertain the motive. Barrackpore commissioner of police Manoj Verma said: “We are scanning the CCTV footage so as to identify the assailants. But it is too early to comment on the motive and persons involved.”

Trinamul’s Naihati MLA Partha Bhowmick said: “We are in dark...He was very popular and did not deserve such a death.”

In a similar incident, Tapan Kandu, Congress councillor elected from ward 2 of Jhalda municipality, was shot dead in the evening when he was out on a walk with his wife.

Police and party sources said criminals shot him on his head and shoulder from close range on Jhalda-Baghmundi road. He was soon taken to a local hospital but party workers decided to take him to a private hospital in Ranchi. Kandu died on the way.

Police appear to be in the dark about the motive. Kandu’s murder comes amid political instability in Jhalda in the wake of a hung mandate in the civic polls. Congress and Trinamul both bagged 5 seats each and Independents won two seats.

It is still unclear which party would form the board.

A Congress leader in the town, “It is not clear if Kandu was under pressure to offer his support to form the board. But we are not ruling out the possibility.”