Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) Jawed Shamim said today that Mohammad Naushad (34) -- arrested by South 24 Parganas police on April 10 from the 8B bus stand in Jadavpur while getting ready for a strike on the local branch of the Corporation Bank, was in fact on the run.
He had gunned down New Delhi-based businessman and moneylender Chandra Bhan in broad daylight on February 10 at a public park there.
"Naushad is from Delhi. After Bhan's murder, he came to Kolkata as he is familiar with the city, having lived here six years ago. In Kolkata, he joined hands with local criminals and was into car theft and burglary. While West Bengal police had arrested him for robbery, he disclosed to one of our sources in jail that he had committed a bigger crime," Shamim said.
In Delhi, Naushad was on good terms with a woman named Bobby, Bhan's business partner and girlfriend.
According to police, Bobby and Bhan had differences over their relationship and he was approached by Bobby to kill Bhan.
An amount of Rs 50,000 was credited to Naushad's bank account by Bobby.
She even took Naushad to Etawah and helped him procure two country-made guns and ammunition.
On February 10, she lured Bhan to a park in Okhla as planned. After giving him the cue to establish that the person with her was indeed Bhan, Bobby moved away on some pretext and Naushed moved in for the kill.
"As his weapons could hold only one cartridge at a time, Naushad fired both weapons simultaneously as he approached his target and brought down Bhan, who was trying to escape. He then reloaded his guns, walked up to the injured man and shot him twice," Shamim said.
Naushad evaded the police dragnet and fled to Kolkata. Bobby has been arrested by the Delhi Police.
The West Bengal Police had recovered four country-made guns, 12 rounds of ammunition, jewellery in individual display cases, nine stolen mobile phones, CDs and an audio system from Naushad and his accomplices on April 10.