Same gang from Bihar plotted attack on Sushanta twice earlier this year

Kolkata: The Friday night murder attempt on Trinamool councillor Sushanta Ghosh wasn't the first one — it was the third time the same gang from Bihar plotted an attempt in five months, including once during Durga Puja, Md Afroz alias Gulzar, touted as the mastermind, told investigators.Afroz told police he procured two guns and magazines from a Munger-based criminal, Md Iqbal, in July. "He said Iqbal supplied guns as well as sharpshooters to him at that time. The gang targeted an attack on Ghosh in July but failed, and again in Oct, the same set of shooters came to Kolkata to attack him but once again they didn't get the right opportunity. The same gang was behind Friday's attack. We are verifying the claims," said a senior Kolkata Police officer.Afroz, a resident of Jamui in Bihar, told cops he worked in Dubai for several years. With the money he earned there, he came to Kolkata and purchased three flats and a warehouse in Gulshan Colony to do a business of selling scrapped parts of slippers four years ago. "I survived two bullet injuries in 1993 and 2002. I still have the marks. Perhaps, I have done some good deeds that the almighty keeps saving me. But cops should find the real motive," Ghosh said on Sunday. Following the failed murder attempt, locals got hold of the shooter, Yuvraj Kumar (18), and police later arrested a taxi driver, Ahmed Khan (45), who transported them. Afroz was arrested on Saturday evening at an Asansol police checkpost while he was trying to flee to Bihar on a bike. Booked under attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and sections under the Arms Act, Afroz was produced before an Alipore court on Sunday, where he was remanded in 13 days' police custody.According to cops, a week prior to the attack, one of the criminals, Chandu alias Chhotu, came from Bihar to Afroz. He conducted a recce of Ghosh's Kasba neighbourhood before two other shooters, Yuvraj and Sushil, reached Howrah station from Bihar on Thursday. The three were picked up by Khan and taken to Lake Town, where they stayed at a flat in Kalindi Housing Estate. On Friday afternoon, Yuvraj, Sushil and Chandu took Khan's taxi to Park Circus. There they met Afroz, who handed pistols to Yuvraj and Sushil. He also showed Yuvraj a picture of Ghosh. Cops are on the lookout for Sushil, Chandu and the scooter rider.On Sunday, cops visited Afroz's flat at Gulshan Colony and also the Lake Town flat where the trio stayed. The Lake Town flat is 20 years old and is owned by one V K Singh from Bihar. It was rented out to a person named Ram Singh, whom police are interrogating. "Neither Ram Singh nor the original owner visited this flat much," said a neighbour, Rana Banerjee.On Sunday, police divers searched a canal next to Ghosh's Rajdanga home for the other gun that Yuvraj reportedly threw in the water while trying to flee. (Inputs by Mayukh Sengupta)