Two murders since Wednesday night have sent shock waves across the northern suburbs.

Former criminal Imran Gazi, 32, trying to return to the mainstream, was shot dead at Basirhat railway station on Thursday morning. In the other incident on Wednesday night, Akbar Hossain, 55, was stabbed to death by younger brother Mintu over a property dispute at Ishwarigachha, in Khardah.

Gazi’s former accomplices caught up with him on Thursday and shot him from point-blank range, leaving him to die on the platform of Basirhat station. He had severed his links with the criminal world and was making a living as a land broker. Gazi was shot thrice on the shoulder and chest. Hundreds of commuters stood dumbstruck witnesses to the murder while the assailants fled.

An officer of Basirhat police station said when Gazi stepped out of his house on Thursday morning, three men accosted him. “He was seen talking to the trio. Then, a quarrel broke out, followed by a scuffle. Gazi was spotted running towards the station, the three men in hot pursuit,” the officer said.

It was peak hour at the station, and commuters saw Gazi run down the platform with the trio at his heels. Then, the shots rang out. Gazi took a few steps before collapsing on the concrete floor. By the time the GRP arrived, he was dead.

Akbar, a law clerk at the Barrackpore sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court, had a long-standing feud with his brother over a plot of land.

On Wednesday night, Akbar and Mintu sat across a table at the former’s house to thrash out the issue. An altercation ensued. Mintu suddenly rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a knife and stabbed Akbar repeatedly. Profusely bleeding, Akbar was rushed to BN Bose Hospital, in Barrackpore, where he was declared dead.

A search is underway for absconding Mintu and his wife.

nSecond arrest: In Baguiati on Thursday, Pallab Sadhukhan, a supplier of building materials, was arrested for the murder of local businessman-turned-promoter Pradip Roy. Roy was murdered on April 24.

With Sadhukhan, the arrests in the case stand at two. Local supplier Nirupam Saha was arrested earlier. Police are looking for six more people in this connection.

Three men on a motorcycle stormed Roy’s house on the evening of April 24 and shot him dead. “Though the killers are absconding, it will not be difficult for us to nab them, as they have been identified,” said additional superintendent of police Manoranjan Saha.