Hooded assailants today shot dead in daylight a CPM youth leader and son of a former party legislator, stoking the embers of political rivalry and gang war in the sensitive district. In a replay of the Chicago mob murders of the fifties, about half-a-dozen masked men walked into Sahadeb barber shop in the Canning market and shot Deepak Mridha who was having a shave. The 37-year-old Deepak was the son of Chittaranjan Mridha, a CPM legislator from the area in the eighties. Witnesses said Deepak, a building contractor, was shot in quick succession in the shoulders, neck and the temple. The assailants also stabbed him with long knives after he tumbled out of the chair. The killers then walked out and melted into the crowd. Deepak, who had lately earned himself some wealth, was taken to the state-run Canning hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Police have registered a case, but are finding it difficult to make a breakthrough as the eyewitnesses are believed to be balking at coming forward to help the investigation. According to one witness, the assailants had walked casually into the barber's shop, giving the impression that they were customers. The barber had tried to raise an alarm when they began taking aim with their crude revolvers, but he stopped half way after one of the killers hit him. The Canning market, which was teeming with vehicles and people, resembled a ghost town soon after the murder. All the shops in the market were hurriedly shuttered down while vehicles went off the road fearing an eruption of violence. The area is the gateway to several picnic spots. Many Calcuttans had gone to Canning and elsewhere in the district to celebrate Christmas. Deepak, who was a zilla parishad member, is believed to have had been questioned in connection with the recent murders of a CPM leader and an RSP member. According to local political circles, intra-CPM strife in Canning and gang war over securing the contract for operating the money-spinning local water transport system were at the root of today's murder. As soon as news of the murder spread, the CPM's South 24-Parganas district secretary, Samir Putatunda, reached Canning from Calcutta. Local party MLA Bimal Mistri said Deepak's murder was the handiwork of some antisocials with whom he had no connection. The police, however, said a preliminary inquiry revealed that there could have been more than one motive behind the murder. Goutam Seal, officer-in-charge of the Canning police station, said Deepak had recently earned a considerable amount from his business. This could have created a rift between Deepak and rival contractors.