The accused were produced at the Barrackpore court and were remanded in police custody till August 22.

The eight others arrested are Lalbabu, Sunil Shaw, Rakesh Shaw, Suraj Singh, Ratan Shaw, Raju Singh, Muhummed Salim and Muhummed Suja. All of them have a criminal background, said the police.

According to the police, the incident owed to a rivalry between two groups. Sonkar had a rivalry with Bhola Shaw, a local trader and a hooligan. Both of them were in the same business and rift occurred between them when their trade interests clashed, said a police officer. Subsequently, Shaw and Sonkar set up their rival groups and they often used to clash with each other, said the police.

According to the police, around 2.30 am on Saturday, Sonkar assembled at Titagarh’s Rashmoni ghat with his eight associates. Acting on a tip-off, the police raided the spot and when the gang tried to escape, the police chased them. The miscreants began hurling bombs but the police also resorted to firing and finally managed to overpower them.

“Led by Sonkar, the gang had assembled to commit robbery at Shaw’s house. The gang probably had planned to murder Shaw also,” said a senior police officer. Sonkar had won a seat in the Titagarh municipality as an Independent candidate defeating a CPM candidate. Later, however, the CPM persuaded him to join the party. Police said Sonkar had a criminal background before becoming a councillor. He was arrested twice on various criminal charges.

CPM Member of Parliament Tarit Topdar said neither he nor his party had any connections with Sonkar.