A Trinamool Congress leader in Salt Lake’s Duttabad was attacked on Monday morning when a gunman attempted to open fire, but the weapon failed. The assailant instead struck the leader with the butt of the pistol before fleeing the scene, police said.

A leader of the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress, Nirmal Dutta, who is also a former Trinamool councillor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, was entering the local ward office at Duttabad around 7am when he was allegedly attacked.

The police said that according to the complaint, someone tried to open fire at him from a close range. “Dutta was able to grasp the man by his arm, preventing his attempt to fire at him. The assailant then struck Dutta on the head with the butt of the pistol and fled, resulting in serious injuries to his head,” said an officer at the Bidhannagar (South) police station, where a case of attempted murder has been filed.

Dutta fell on the ground and started bleeding from his forehead. His screams alerted the people in the vicinity who rushed to his rescue. Some of them took him to the Bidhannagar Sub-divisional Hospital, the police said.

According to an officer, an investigation has been initiated to identify the alleged assailant.

CCTV footage from the cameras installed in the area have been collected for identifying the accused, said another police officer.

Dutta, whose wife Alo is a TMC councillor of the same ward, said he was involved in a lot of social activities and had always opposed wrong deeds. “Was I targeted because I opposed the pond filling?” Dutta said.

No one was arrested till Monday evening.

A similar incident of attempted shooting was reported on November 15 last year, when two men on a scooter came close to the residence of Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillor Sushanta Ghosh in Kasba. One of the men jumped off the scooter and aimed a gun at the councillor, who was sitting outside with two acquaintances.

CCTV footage captured the incident and showed a youth wearing a helmet who was riding pillion alighting the two-wheeler, taking out a gun and walking towards where Ghosh was sitting. He brandished the gun and went closer to Ghosh, apparently trying to shoot at him from a close range.

Ghosh had managed to foil the attempt and capture the young shooter.

Later a gang of men were arrested from various parts of the city and Bihar for planning the attack.

The police had then said that hired killers had come from Bihar and were staying in the city to execute the plan.