Vicky in hospital bed

Vicky’s motorcycle

The attack site, 300 m from SSKM Hospital. Pictures by Amit Datta

A gangster led seven of his associates into the den of his rival, shot him and his friend and struck a third with an iron rod on Friday afternoon in bustling Sambhunath Pandit Street.

Rakesh Shaw, alias Vicky, and Sanjay Joshi were shot in their arms and Sanjay Yadav, alias Goonda, was assaulted by Pintoo and his companions, who zoomed in on two motorcycles and a taxi, got off a few yards from where the trio were sitting on the roadside, walked up and set upon them.

Vicky and his friends had sat down after parking their motorcycles when they were attacked close to a restaurant, where about 20 people were having their meals.

The three were taken to SSKM Hospital, barely 300 metres from the spot, by the local people before police arrived.

An officer of Kalighat police station said the two gangs were fighting over supplying building materials to a promoter who was planning to construct a multi-storeyed building at 20 Sambhunath Pandit Street, in front of which Vicky and the two Sanjays were sitting.

“Pintoo and his gang members attacked Vicky and his two associates. They fired three rounds and two of the bullets hit Vicky and Sanjay Joshi,” said Rajesh Subarno, the deputy commissioner of police (south).

He said Vicky, who lives in Beni Nandan Street, near the Calcutta Police Hospital and close to the attack spot, and Pintoo, a resident of Behala, were active in Bhowanipore, Hazra and Kalighat.

“Vicky is a rowdy and was arrested by the detective department a few months ago. The shoot-out in a crowded place is a matter of great concern, as anybody could have been hit. Raids are on to arrest Pintoo and his associates. We will examine Vicky and his associates,” Subarno said.

An officer of the anti-rowdy section of the detective department said Pintoo was once part of Vicky’s gang. “Around five years ago, Pintoo fell out and formed his own gang. Extortion and theft had been the forte of both the gangs but recently, they had turned building material suppliers. The animosity has grown in recent days,” the officer said.

Vicky’s friend, Madhavi Vyas, agreed that Pintoo and Vicky were once close. “I do not know the trigger for the attack,” Vyas added.

The officer said Vicky had the backing of local Trinamul Congress leaders. Madan Mitra, a Trinamul leader, admitted knowing him. “Vicky is a Trinamul supporter and the attack was pre-planned. Some criminals wanted to kill him,” he said.

When told that Vicky’s own record, the police had said, was questionable, Mitra replied: “Is it justified to kill a rowdy?”

Vicky’s father used to work as a Group D employee at the Calcutta Police Hospital. “It is strange that Vicky continues to stay at the police quarters even after his father’s retirement,” an officer said.