Residents of Thakurpukur found the body of a 32-year-old man with multiple wounds on Diamond Harbour Road early on Monday. The spot was close to Thakurpukur police station, but the body was not removed till 9.30 am, sparking unrest in the area.

Police said the man ? with a bullet wound in the chest and his throat slit ? had probably been murdered elsewhere and his body was later dumped on the spot.

?The body was lying there for hours, although the police had been alerted. Later, they removed the body on the instance of local residents,? said Samar Jana, a trader in Thakurpukur.

The victim identified as Madan Patra, 32, was a dealer in second-hand cars. He lived in a rented house on Kailash Ghosh Road in the Thakurpukur area.

His wife and one-and-a-half-year-old son live in Khejuri, in Midnapore, with his parents.

Although the motive of his murder is still not clear, police believe it could be due to business rivalry.

?Madan was quite amiable. He came to live here only seven months ago. Sometimes his friends and business partners used to meet him at home. Last night, two men came looking for him,? said Lakshmi Pal, the landlady.

She said Madan had built a house nearby, and he would have moved into it with his family soon after the Assembly elections. His parents, too, would have moved in with him.

?I can?t understand why he was murdered. He never quarrelled with anybody. So far as we know he was not involved in politics. He would rent out his car and when a driver was absent he would drive it himself,? she added.

Madan returned home every day around 10 pm. But on Sunday night, when he did not return even after midnight, the Pals were worried.

?Around midnight, two men came to my house and asked for him. They gave me two phone numbers so that I could inform them when he returned,? the landlady said.

On Monday, around 10 am, a team from Thakurpukur police station informed the Pals of Madan?s death.

The investigating officer said they had established Madan?s identity from his diary. ?Madan?s body was probably dumped in a busy area deliberately,? he said.

Later, district superintendent of police, South 24-Parganas, S.N. Gupta, said they had found the names of Madan?s associates. ?We have interrogated some of them and the needle does point at business rivalry,? he added.