Kolkata, Jan 3 Seven people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Trinamool Congress councillor Dulal Sarkar in West Bengal's Malda district, police said on Friday.
English Bazar municipality Chairman Krishnendu Narayan Choudhury said one of the seven arrested is a resident of Katihar district in neighbouring Bihar.
"A total of five firearms have been recovered. Contract killers were hired for the crime. What I came to know is that the deal was fixed at Rs 10 lakh," Choudhury told media persons.
Police sources said that of the seven, two were arrested on Thursday evening, just a few hours after Sarkar was declared dead at the Malda Medical College and Hospital, where he was under treatment after being shot from a close range earlier in the day.
"After interrogating those two, we got information about the other five and arrested them from their hideout late Thursday night," a district police official said.
However, the cause of the crime was yet to be ascertained.
On Thursday evening, Firhad Hakim, the West Bengal Minister in charge of the Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department and Kolkata Mayor, said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered an inquiry into Sarkar's murder.
On Thursday, while addressing an administrative review meeting at the State Secretariat Nabanna, the Chief Minister criticised Malda District Police Superintendent Pradeep Kumar Yadav and held him accountable for the crime.
Sarkar was attacked on Thursday morning while standing at a busy crossing in the area. Three helmet-clad assailants arrived on a motorcycle, and one of them opened fire.
The first two bullets missed, but the third hit Sarkar in the head.
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