Kolkata: Civic volunteer murdered during Hastings brawl, three held

KOLKATA: A 36-year-old civic volunteer attached with Maidan police was allegedly murdered near the Hastings Mazar on Saturday after he had tried to stop an argument between horse carriage operators. The victim, Irshad Hossain alias Md Sunny, a resident of MM Ali Road in Ekbalpore, was himself the owner of some horses used to pull the carriages. Three persons, Safed Rahaman alias Saiba, Ajoy Roy and Abhisek Singh, have been arrested so far in connection with the murder.
The civic volunteer, who is survived by his parents, wife and two daughters, was allegedly hit with a brick on his head in the wee hours of Saturday. He succumbed to his injuries later on the same day.
According to joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma, there was a dispute between Danish and Rahaman of Hastings over the use of the road leading to the mazar. “In the past few days, slum dwellers from Strand Road and those from Watgunge had been arguing over the issue,” said Sharma.
“As an argument was on, Sunny and Danish’s father Md Firoj reached the spot in the early hours of Saturday. Though Sunny was not on duty, he had gone there to feed his horses and wash his cart. Meanwhile, Rahaman called some locals to come to his rescue. Sunny, Firoj and at least five others objected to the presence of so many people, who had no connection with the business, at the spot. Ajoy Roy of Watgunge and a friend of Rahaman became furious suddenly and had a scuffle with Sunny, Firoj and Danish. During the scuffle, Abhisek Singh, a resident of St Georges Terrace Road and a friend of both Rahaman and Roy, hit Sunny on his head with a brick. As he fell on the ground, the accused fled away,” said DC (south) Meeraj Khalid.
Soon, some seniors rushed to the spot hearing the commotion. “Around 12.30am, Sunny said he was feeling unwell and was shifted to SSKM Hospital. He died while being shifted to the trauma care unit. Arrangement has been made for his post-mortem that will ascertain the exact reason behind his death,” added Khalid. The arrested trio have been charged with murder by Maidan police. Firoj is the complainant, said police.