The residence of Sonal Banerjee in Rehabari. Telegraph picture

Sept. 15: Two businessmen were shot dead and another was injured in three separate incidents in the city since yesterday.

Sonal Banerjee, 32, was shot dead allegedly by a surrendered Ulfa man (Sulfa) at a resort in Sonapur on the outskirts of the city in the wee hours yesterday.

Banerjee’s body with a bullet injury in the head and wrapped in a bedsheet was found lying by the roadside at Bagori under Jakhalabandha police station in Nagaon district last night.

The victim was a resident of Santi Ram Das Path at Rehabari .

Senior superintendent of police (city) Deepak Choudhury said Kukil Chandra Gogoi, who is a surrendered Ulfa (Sulfa) militant from Dibrugarh, had emerged as the prime accused in the case.

“Though Gogoi is absconding, another person identified as Vishal Agarwal, who is a businessman from Fancy Bazar, has been arrested and is being questioned at Sonapur police outpost,” the SSP said.

Choudhury, however, refused to divulge any other detail at this stage as it could hamper the investigation.

“Our investigation so far had revealed that Banerjee was apparently shot by Gogoi from point blank range with the carbine of his personal security officer Om Prakash Rawat in a room of Rudraksha Health Resort and Spa at Sonapur yesterday around 3am,” another police officer, requesting anonymity, said.

Rawat has been detained at Dibrugarh while Gogoi is yet to be traced.

The source said Gogoi with Rawat arrived in the city from Dibrugarh on September 13 and had checked into the resort.

“On Tuesday evening, Agarwal and Gogoi went to Illusion along with some girls and had drinks there. At Illusion lounge bar, Banerjee, who had known Agarwal for a long time, joined them. After midnight, all of them, including the girls, went to Rudraksh where they had a poolside party till 2.30am on Wednesday. During the party, Banerjee and Gogoi had a fight, probably over one of the girls accompanying them,” he said.

“Gogoi, who was drunk, fired one round at Banerjee inside a room of the resort killing him on the spot around 3am on Wednesday,” the source said.

“Gogoi then wiped bloodstains on the floor to destroy evidence. He then wrapped the body in a bedsheet and put it in his Bolero before leaving the resort with his PSO around 5am. On his way to Dibrugarh, he dumped the body alongside National Highway 37 at Bagori,” he said.

Rattled by the murder, Agarwal and the girls left the resort in a hurry without informing anybody about what had happened.

Banerjee’s family members launched a search when he did not return home till yesterday morning and informed the police when they could not contact him on his cellphone.

When police checked his call details they found that he made the last call to Agarwal from his mobile.

“We called Agarwal to Panbazar police station for questioning. Following sustained interrogation, he broke down and spilled the beans and the murder came to light,” the source said.

Agarwal has been arrested.

In another incident, a grocery shopowner identified as Balen Das, 40, was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants at Indira Nagar near National Games Village when he was returning to his Baikuntha Nagar home in his scooter after closing his shop around 11 last night.

Another grocery shopowner identified as Pankaj Choudhury was injured when a gang attacked him and hit him on the head with a revolver butt for refusing to pay them money at Lokhra around 10pm yesterday.