The murder of promoter-cum-telecom material supplier Subrata Halder might not have been masterminded by Swapan Bhattacharya, police said on Sunday.

The sleuths had earlier suggested that the three youths held for the murder — Totan, Pucchka and Chhotan — were associates of Swapan, who had allegedly played a key role in the killing.

“But we later came to know that Swapan does not have direct links with the trio. In fact, Subrata was Swapan’s childhood friend,” said an officer of Dum Dum police station.

On Friday afternoon, Swapan had come to Subrata’s NN Road house and asked him to accompany come out.

“The two were discussing a land brokerage deal near a building that Subrata was developing when the hitmen appeared on the scene,” said an investigating officer.

The sleuths said Swapan got scared on seeing the assailants, who came on two motorcycles, and started running.

“It seems Toton was the mastermind as Subrata had refused to meet his demands for money,” the officer added. “He had planned the murder at least a fortnight ago and since then had been keeping a close eye on the victim.”

The sleuths are not ruling out the possibility of the involvement of some local politicians in the murder. “Totan was once arrested at Salt Lake stadium along with a few other youths who were allegedly close to some CPM leaders of North 24-Parganas,” said an officer.

“We are trying to find out who had tipped off Totan and his men about Halder’s movements that day. It seems the gang was helped by a few local youths,” the investigating officer added.

“We are exploring all angles,” said P.K. Tripathi, the additional superintendent of police (Barrackpore).

Death over real estate disputes is nothing new in Dum Dum, which has been witnessing a spurt in realty projects over the past few years.

A senior officer said land disputes had claimed 17 lives in the past two years.