Bina Saha (second from left) at the hospital with neighbours. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, May 21: A 45-year-old Baguiati-based realtor was shot dead outside his residence this afternoon in what police suspect is a fallout of a property dispute.

Sushil Saha had barely come out of his home in Vidyasagar Pally when two youths walked up and pumped three bullets into him from close range. One bullet lodged inside his right temple, while one hit him in the lower abdomen and the other in the spinal cord.

“I was reading a book when I heard three loud sounds. I knew that they were gunshots and could hear someone shriek. Later, I saw Sushilda lying in a pool of blood and two youths rushing away on two motorbikes,” said Gaurav Guha, a resident of the area.

The realtor was rushed to SSKM Hospital at 2.30 pm by his wife Bina, Guha, Sankar Narayan Dutta, the local councillor, and other residents of the locality.

“He was barely alive when he came here. We immediately rushed him to the hospital’s intensive care unit and later to the operation theatre, but couldn’t save him. The bullets were lodged deep inside and completely destroyed the internal body parts,” said a doctor who examined Saha.

“We have quite a few names and have started working on the case with top priority,” said Praveen Kumar, the district police superintendent.

Kumar said the motive behind the cold-blooded murder was not very clear but suspect a property dispute. “We are exploring all possible angles now,” Kumar said.

The reconstruction of the crime revealed that the youths had been waiting for several hours near Saha’s residence. When the realtor left his house to take a stroll, the youths approached him.

“They first shot him in the back, while he was just about to enter his house. The bullet lodged in the spinal cord explains this clearly,” said an official investigating the case.

One of the youths pressed the nozzle of his revolver on Saha’s right temple and pulled the trigger, smashing his brain. The assailant then shot the realtor in his abdomen, damaging the kidneys completely.