Kolkata: Two people were shot dead and another was critically injured in the eye in the West Bengal capital Monday following a clash over a disputed property close to the city police chief’s residence in the upscale Short Street.
Police said the incident took place in a house where a woman called Mamata Agarwal also ran a nursery school.
“Two people were killed on the spot and another was critically injured after they were shot at. The incident happened in the early hours (Monday) when a group of people forcibly entered the house. A woman resident opened fire,” Joint Commissioner of Police P.K. Ghosh said.
The incident occurred a few hundred yards from the official residence of the city police commissioner.
According to police, the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage shows a woman opening fire at the group of intruders.
Ghosh said the woman, suspected to be Agarwal, and one of her security guards, opened fire when a group of people, among them security guards, bouncers and a lawyer, all of whom owed allegiance to a rival claimant to the property, entered the premises in a bid to take possession of it.
Eleven people, including Agarwal, have been arrested and charged with murder and for carrying arms. Two firearms were seized.
Agarwal claimed she was molested by the intruders, and fired in self-defence. She said the arms she used were licensed guns.
“Two men barged into my office and pounced on me, tearing my clothes. My assistant opened fire at the intruders.
“A similar attack took place a few months back and despite informing the police, nothing was done. I even wrote to the governor,” Agarwal said.
She said a security agency and some influential people, including a local political leader, were eyeing the property where she runs the school, and the attack was part of the conspiracy to forcibly acquire it.
Ghosh, however, said the guns were licensed to another person.
Local people said a similar shooting incident had taken place in connection with the dispute some months back, though no one was injured.
They accused the police of arriving late at the scene, and said they were apprehensive of their security.
Property disputes are not uncommon in West Bengal like in some other parts of North India and across tyhe country. (Agencies)