Calcutta, Sept. 17: A Jadavpur University alumnus has died after he was shot allegedly by sharpshooters in front of Delhi’s Apollo Hospital early yesterday.

According to police, two men pumped bullets into Amarendra Nath Das’s chest from close range in the morning-hour traffic.

The spot where the incident took place is only half-a-kilometre from Sarita Vihar police station.

Cops had not tracked down the culprits until late tonight, but a team of officers had left for western Uttar Pradesh, where the suspects are believed to have come from. Das, in his late 30s, had been living in Delhi for over 15 years where he ran a small printing business. He belonged to Naihati in North 24-Parganas.

Anil Shukla, deputy commissioner of Delhi police’s (south district), said the murder seemed to be a fallout of a dispute between the deceased and a local money-lender.

“It is being investigated whether there were other reasons for the killing,” he added.

The police said Das was riding a scooter to office when the attack took place. “Suddenly, two persons on a motorcycle intercepted Das under a flyover and fired at him from a revolver in full public view. Then, they sped away on their bikes. None of the onlookers dared to give them a chase,” said an officer of Sarita Vihar police station.

Locals rushed Das to a nearby hospital, where he went through a surgery.

“But all efforts by doctors proved futile and he died,” said Samir Sarkar, Das’s cousin, from Delhi. “Our family members have already left Calcutta and are expected to reach here tonight,” he added.

Preliminary investigation carried out by the police revealed that Das had run into trouble with his printing business.

“But he faced a huge loss in 2005 as he failed to meet orders of a Mumbai company. Finding no way out, he took a loan of Rs 3.5 lakh from Mahesh Pandit, a money-lender from Ballabgarh,” Shukla added.

Das failed to pay Pandit back. “He was threatened earlier, but was not in a position to return the money. We have launched a massive manhunt for the money-lender, who is absconding,” the deputy commissioner said.

Shukla said the manner in which Das was shot indicates that hitmen were hired for the job. “The miscreants should be in the net soon,” he added.