The restaurant-cum-bar near Siliguri More along National Highway 34 where Kamal was shot dead. Picture by Nityananda Sarkar

Raiganj, Feb. 18: A contractor was dragged out of a restaurant-cum-bar here last night and shot dead in full view of other customers at the eatery.

Kamal Dutta, a resident of Netaji Palli, was in the restaurant with one of his friends, when four youths arrived on two motor cycles. The gang members, armed with revolvers and pipeguns, dragged the 28-year-old out to the restaurant lawns, pinned him down on the ground and fired point blank, eyewitnesses said.

The assailants also warned others in the restaurant and sped away. Dipak, Kamal’s friend who had accompanied him to the restaurant and was also beaten up by the gang members, fled the spot.

Employees of the restaurant informed police.

Three policemen arrived in a vehicle at the spot 15 minutes later. The driver of the vehicle who was requested to take Kamal to a hospital did not pay heed and left the place immediately, one of the eyewitnesses alleged.

Kamal was lying on the lawns wreathing in pain, till his younger brother Nimai arrived. His frantic attempts to stop a passing vehicle to take the injured man to hospital also proved futile. Nimai finally managed to hire a rickshaw and took his brother to the hospital, where the injured contractor was declared dead.

According to Nimai, his elder brother’s marriage was scheduled on March 9. “Discussion about the marriage was going on at home in the evening when Dipak called Kamal and both of them went out,” he said.

“When I heard about the incident, I came running to the restaurant. I found my brother groaning in pain. Three constables were present, but they did not make any arrangement to take him to the hospital. I believe that there is a nexus between the criminals and the police,” Nimai added.

The younger brother said he had identified the criminals, who had shot Kamal, and informed the police, but the constables ignored it. “I shall lodge a complaint with the human rights commission against the three policemen present there at that time,” Nimai said.

The inspector-in-charge of the Raiganj police station, Pradip Chakraborty, denied any lapse of the force. “The police reached the spot soon after the incident was reported. We have collected some names and conducted raids accordingly,” he said.

Although the incident had occurred in full public view, no one had come forward to be a witness. No one has been arrested so far, Chakraborty said. The North Dinajpur district police chief, Swapan Banerjee Purnapatra, who has been camping at Islampur, could not be contacted.