Audacious assassination attempts in broad daylight, supari killings, shootouts in public places—West Bengal politics at the ground level is fast resembling a gritty gangster flick that any mainstream director of potboilers would do well to study. The land mafia, with their political affiliations, wage violent warfare over territory, both for business and political control.

Violence and deals have become part and parcel of Bengal’s socio-political fabric, but a new twist has emerged in this prevalent violence—political and otherwise. The practice of hiring hitmen from notorious out-of-State gangs for contract killings has spread rapidly across the State.

This growing trend became evident again with a recent assassination attempt on heavyweight Trinamool leader Sushanta Ghosh from south Kolkata on November 15, just two days after another locally influential ruling party leader, Ashok Sahu, was gunned down at a tea stall in Bhatpara, Barrackpore.

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At 8:30 pm on November 15, the influential councillor Sushanta Ghosh was sitting outside his house on a busy main road in Kasba, south Kolkata. Two motorcyclists approached him, and one aimed a gun at point-blank range, pulling the trigger twice. Ghosh survived only because the gun malfunctioned. Local residents apprehended the gunman—18-year-old Yuvraj Kumar from Bihar’s Vaishali district. As of November 21, three others involved in the murder attempt, including the motorcycle driver, remain at large. Police investigation revealed the assailants were members of the notorious Bihar-based Pappu Chowdhury gang. After the attack, Ghosh said, “This is a ward I have nurtured for a decade… I am not shocked but pained that things have deteriorated to such an extent that I am targeted in public at my home… Political fights will be there, but to try to kill an opponent is not our culture.”

Property dispute

While factional clashes within Trinamool are common in Kasba, where Ghosh is a prominent leader, this particular assassination attempt stemmed from a property dispute. Following Yuvraj’s apprehension, police arrested taxi driver Ahmed Khan and the mastermind, Mohammed Afroz Khan (alias Gulzar), a local businessman originally from Bihar. Caught while attempting to flee to Bihar, Gulzar claimed one of Ghosh’s henchmen had forcibly seized his 2,000-square-foot plot, valued at approximately Rs 1 crore. In retaliation, he planned Ghosh’s murder, contacting the Pappu Chowdhury gang. Under Gulzar’s direction, gang members had already made two unsuccessful attempts on Ghosh’s life in July and October. This time, they prepared thoroughly, with one member, Chandu (alias Chhotu), arriving a week before to plan the attack. Reports indicate Gulzar paid the gang Rs 50 lakh for the hit.

Land has become a major source of conflict in Kolkata and its surrounding suburbs. Powerful syndicate bosses—a euphemism for extortionists operating in the housing and infrastructure sectors—affiliated with different factions of the ruling party engage in vicious inner-party feuds over territorial control of their operations.

Trinamool leader shot dead

The attempt on Ghosh’s life took place just two days after a Trinamool leader from Bhatpara was killed in full public view at a tea stall, a stone’s throw from the Jagaddal police station. On the morning of November 13, local Trinamool leader Ashok Sahu was sitting at his usual hangout—a tea stall in one of Bhatpara’s most crowded areas—when three assailants shot him dead. They hurled crude bombs during their escape to deter pursuit. Police subsequently arrested four people in connection with the crime, including Sunny Das and the main culprit, Sujal Prasad. According to police, Sujal and Sunny had attempted to kill Ashok earlier in February 2023. The killing is viewed as an act of vengeance connected to the murder of Sujal’s brother Akash in 2020.

“Akash Prasad was killed in 2020, and one of the chargesheeted accused was Ashok Sahu, whose death occurred on November 13,” said Alok Rajoria, Commissioner of Barrackpore city police. The incident also highlighted the proliferation and ready availability of illegal arms and ammunition in the State.

Rise of contract killings

Contract killings, once alien to Bengal despite the State’s long history of violence, have risen at an alarming rate over the past few years. Last year alone, two businessmen with political clout in the Durgapur-Asansol coal belt were killed by hired assassins. Arvind Bhagat was killed in the lobby of his own hotel in Asansol in February 2023, and Rajesh Jha was killed in April while travelling in his car on the expressway. One of the earlier instances of hiring out-of-State contract killers occurred when Srinivas Naidu, the Trinamool strongman from Kharagpur, was gunned down in the party office by hitmen from Jamshedpur in 2017. Since then, contract killings have steadily increased, with targets ranging from local leaders and councillors to legislators and Ministers.

Veteran political analyst Biswajit Bhattacharya pointed out that such contract killings, though previously infrequent, were confined to areas with high criminal activity, like the coal belt of Asansol and Durgapur, and zones known for sand and cattle smuggling. “We are now seeing these cases of contract killings spreading in Kolkata as well. This was not the case earlier, but land-related conflicts have brought contract killings into the heart of Kolkata,” Bhattacharya told Frontline.

Strom within Trinamool

The two recent incidents exposed internal rifts within the Trinamool, as several top leaders criticised the State police, despite the Home Department being under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s control. Kolkata Mayor and cabinet Minister Firhad Hakim erupted, “Enough is enough. I am telling the police to act now. Even after instructions from the Chief Minister, how are arms getting into the State? How is this happening? Where is the intelligence? Where is the network? How are so many criminals from outside entering the State?”

Senior party leader and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Saugata Roy echoed Hakim’s concerns: “How are 9mm pistols entering Kolkata from Bihar? What is the police doing? Is there nobody to man the borders? Can the police not catch anybody?”

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A section of the party interpreted the criticism of police as an indirect attack on Mamata herself. Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee lashed out at the critics: “There are many within Trinamool against whom there are charges of corruption. They should immediately leave. Saugata Roy and Bobby (Firhad) Hakim were both involved in the Narada case (the sting operation where top Trinamool leaders including Hakim and Roy were seen accepting cash in front of a camera). Why are they still around? Who has the right to question Mamata Banerjee’s capabilities? Neither Saugata Roy, nor Bobby Hakim, nor Humayun Kabir.” (Kabir, the Trinamool MLA from Bharatpur, had advocated for Mamata’s nephew and party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee to be made deputy CM and given charge of Home Police.)

The attempt on Sushanta Ghosh’s life nevertheless shook up the police who, after a severe public tongue-lashing from the Chief Minister, conducted raids across the State, recovering numerous illegal firearms and arresting more than 60 people.