Kharagpur, Jan. 11: A scrap iron dealer in Kharagpur who was an accused in several murder and robbery cases was shot dead along with an aide inside a Trinamul office in the town this afternoon.

Police are probing if 27-year-old Srinu Naidu's murder was the fallout of gang rivalry over scrap deals or if his recent foray into the real estate business had played a role. A political element was injected into the development with some in Trinamul, of which Srinu was a member, publicly suspecting the BJP's involvement, which the Opposition party denied.

The Kharagpur Assembly seat is represented by Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh.

Srinu, a railway employee who had allegedly controlled the scrap iron trade in Kharagpur for years by vitiating the auctioning process by the railways, was the husband of Trinamul councillor Puja Naidu, who held meetings in the party office where he was shot. Srinu had a chamber in the office.

The Kharagpur division of the railways is a major centre for the auctioning of scrap iron.

Srinu and one of his associates, 25-year-old Dharma Rao, died while being taken to a private hospital in Calcutta. Three other associates of Srinu, who had acted as a villain's sidekick in the Bengali film Sathiya last year, have been admitted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital with bullet injuries.

Around 2.45pm today, a grey SUV halted in front of the Trinamul office at Nayakhuli in Puja's ward. According to witnesses, five men armed with pistols got off the car and entered the party office.

"They threw a bomb inside the office and fired indiscriminately. Srinu ran out of his chamber and rushed into a washroom. One of the attackers chased him inside and shot him twice in the head," a police officer said.

Srinu, accused in the murders of three businessmen in Kharagpur and two cases of looting cash meant for ATMs, was out on bail.

He joined Trinamul in 2015 after Puja, who won the Kharagpur municipality poll on a BJP ticket, switched to the Bengal ruling party.

West Midnapore police chief Bharati Ghosh said: "We have started an investigation to find out who all are behind the shooting."

A police officer said Srinu started dealing in scrap iron as a teenager in 2006 and gradually took control of the auctioning process in Kharagpur, elbowing out Bashab Rambabu, another scrap dealer and murder accused. Rambabu is said to have mentored Srinu earlier.

Asked if Rambabu was involved in Srinu's murder, a police officer said: "The probe so far has not thrown up any link between Rambabu and today's incident. Srinu had recently entered the real estate business and we are probing whether there was any rivalry there."

Trinamul leaders said they suspected that the BJP was behind the murders. "The local BJP MLA has been provoking and orchestrating violence in many pockets of the state. That he has no role in this incident, in his own constituency, is for him to prove," a senior Trinamul leader said tonight.

However, Trinamul MP said: "No attempt is being made to frame anybody. We do not believe in politically victimising the innocent."

MLA Ghosh, who is on a visit to Bangladesh, could not be contacted.

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said: "The BJP has nothing to do with the incident. The murders are the fallout of Trinamul factional feud. The incident is not political."