Ashoke Ray’s daughter Sanjana. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

A gang of six dragged realtor Ashoke Ray away from in front of his home, beat him up with an iron rod and pumped a bullet into his head late on Tuesday.

The killers then went on a drinking spree and danced around Ray’s body, lying on Tiljala Road. They stabbed Ray’s cousin Pramod with a glass shard when he tried to grab one of the men.

By the time police came, an hour later, the assailants had walked away.

Three men — identified as Pradip Das, Santosh Roy and Basudeb Kayal — have been arrested.

While the police attributed the realtor’s murder to his alleged involvement in illegal construction, Ray’s family said he was killed for refusing to pay extortion money to some local toughs.

Ray’s father Ram Naresh said Sanjay Das and his brother Dilip, who live in the same Tiljala Road neighbourhood, had come to their house around 5pm on Tuesday. “They asked Ashoke to keep Rs 20,000 ready for them and threatened to kill him if he refused to pay up,” said Ram Naresh.

The Das duo came again after midnight, when Ray was chatting with his friends and brothers in front of his house.

“Moments later, four other men appeared on the scene. Dilip asked for the money but Ashoke refused to pay. Sanjay then took out a revolver and dragged Ashoke away,” said Ram Kumar, the realtor’s brother. The local residents watched in horror as Ray was killed and the assailants boozed and danced around his body.

Ram Kumar said he had immediately called Tiljala police station but an officer said: “The cops would reach late as the inspector-in-charge was away.”

The police said Ray, in his late 30s, was arrested three years ago on the charge of being involved in a clash. Nine cases were pending against him.

“Of late, he was supplying building material to people involved in illegal construction. The realty boom in the area might have led to his killing,” said an officer.