Spurned lover guns down girl

TNN, JALPAIGURI: A schoolgirl was allegedly gunned down by a youth at Falakata in Jalpaiguri on Sunday morning after she turned down his repeated proposals. Police have arrested both the accused and his accomplice. 

Witnesses said the 17-year-old was killed near Subhash Colony at 9.30am while she was returning home from her tuition. Nikita Dutta, the daughter of a local businessman, was walking down the road when accused Tapas Das and his aide Gopal Acharya intercepted her on a bike and shot her from a point blank range. 

The duo sped off on the bike before locals could react. Sources said that before the people could react to the daylight violence, the duo sped off on the bike. The injured teen was declared dead at rushed to Falakata Hospital where she was declared dead. 

As the news spread, residents gheraoed the local police station, demanding immediate arrest of Tapas and Gopal. A large police force from Alipurduar brought the situation under control. 

Police sources that Gopal was rounded up from Falakata within a few hours of the killing, while Tapas was arrested later in the day from Siliguri. Both were in a bid to leave North Bengal when they were nabbed. 

Preliminary probe revealed that Tapas and Nikita were neighbours and the youth has been trying to woo her for a long time. But every time he proposed to her, she turned him down. This probably upset Tapas and he decided to kill the girl, said police. 

Tapas has a criminal background . He is a known miscreant in the locality and has been to jail a couple of times. Gopal was his assistant. 

On Sunday, it was Gopal who was riding the bike. After firing at the girl, he even dropped off Tapas at a safe place from where he could escape.