Murder spreads panic in Salt Lake

KOLKATA: The murder of the caretaker of an under-construction house in EE Block of Salt Lake''s east Bidhannagar police station area on Saturday has spread panic among residents of the township. His pregnant wife, who was also attacked, is battling for life at Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital.
Shankar Bose, a resident of a flat opposite to the house under construction where Bikash Karmakar was a caretaker, was woken up by sound of firing around 3.15 am on Saturday.He telephoned the Bidhannagar East police station.
"I found two men — one was clad in lungi, his faced covered with a gamchha. The other wore a T-shirt and black trousers. They were coming out of the under construction building. The lungi clad man was brandishing a single-shotter, the other held a bhojali," said a horror stricken Bose.
The duo disappeared, but came back a little later. "They once more entered the ground floor of the building, came out and took away Bikash''s new bicycle," added Dibyendu Ganguly, another eyewitness. Residents said that assailants were moving about confidently.
The residents mustered courage to get out of their flats to see what had happened only after the police arrived at 3.45 a.m. Bikash and his wife Tumpa, a four-month pregnant wife, were lying in pool of blood. The police took both of them in a police van to the NRS Hospital. Bikash died in the hospital.
Neighbours in the EE block said, 32-year-old Bikash was helpful and amiable. "We never imagined that he could have an enemy,"said a EE block resident. His mother Padma Karmakar said that her son was friendly to every one.
"Vengeance appears to be the motive behind the murder. We are checking out Bikash''s antecedence," said additional SP (Bidhannagar) Ajay Nand. Bidhannagar East police station officers said that the assailant might have tried to abduct Bikash''s good-looking wife. Bikash was attacked when he tried to resist.