A civic volunteer and his friend were killed by armed assailants at a crowded cattle market in Magurpukur area of Mograhat, South 24-Parganas, on Saturday morning.

Civic volunteer Barun Chakraborty, 35, attached to Mograhat police station, and his friend Maloy Makhal, 31, were dragged into the deserted office room of a construction firm's office, where the criminals shot the two friends from close range before hacking them with sharp weapons, a police source said.

The exact reason behind the murders, however, could not be immediately ascertained by police.

Multiple sources in the area said that the duo were killed as they were putting pressure on a local businessman to return the money he had taken from them as investment after promising high returns.

“The businessman summoned the duo at 11.30am on Saturday morning with the lure of returning the money... His people took them inside his office, where they were killed,” a relative of Chakraborty alleged.

People in the market area heard gunshots from inside the office room of the construction firm. While some ran away, others went near the office to see what happened.

"We first saw Jaan-e-Alam, owner of the company, coming out of the room. At least four others were following him and suddenly one of them hurled a bomb, which created panic in the area,” said an eyewitness.

The police, on being informed, went inside the office from where they recovered the bodies and took them to Diamond Harbour district hospital where doctors declared them dead.

The news of murders in the office of a crowded market created unrest. A mob ransacked some shops, torched a vehicle protesting the poor law-and-order in the area.

Some local people said that the duo had paid around Rs 60,000 to Jaan-e-Alam as investment in his company.

“Jaan was a close associate of the two friends and they paid the money on the hope of good returns. He assured them of supplying building materials at a cheaper rate. He did neither,” Chakraborty’s relative alleged.

Diamond Harbour police district SP Avijit Banerjee said: ‘We have began murder case and detained some persons. We are hopeful of arresting the culprits soon.”