An employee at Ganguram Great Grandson sweet shop on Burrabazar’s Kali Krishna Tagore Street was found unconscious in the staff quarters early on Monday, his throat partly slit, police said.
The shop is located on the ground floor of a multi‑storey building in the bustling Malapara crossing in the heart of the city’s business district.
The staff quarters are on the first floor.
At around 10am, Goutam Pradhan, 20, of Birbhum, was found in a pool of blood by a colleague. He was rushed to Medical College Kolkata, in critical condition.
Initial reports by officers of Girish Park police station said an anonymous call had informed them of an injured person at the shop, but when they reached the location, they found no one.
The officers then checked local hospitals and found Pradhan and matched his details.
Jurisdiction was later clarified to lie with Jorabagan police station.
Kolkata Police joint commissioner (crime) Rupesh Kumar said late on Monday that a complaint from the shop led to the arrest of Rabin Rudra, 60, a co-worker sharing the quarters, on charges of attempt to murder.
Investigators suspected that Rudra carried out the attack.
At first, the police were unsure whether the throat wound was self‑inflicted or inflicted by someone else. Later, they retrieved a text message sent from Pradhan’s phone to his mother. That message indicated he had quarrelled with an older colleague who threatened him.
Officers said that the shop’s shutter had been secured from the inside and no entry appeared possible.
“The man who brought the victim to the hospital is our prime suspect,” one officer said earlier in the day. “We are interrogating him and other shop staff for more details.”
Sources said Pradhan and the co-worker argued over the division of money on Sunday night, sparking an altercation.
Multiple attempts by this newspaper to contact the shop owner were unsuccessful as the phone remained switched off.