Murder probe scan on land deals

TT, Siliguri, Jan. 6: Police are focusing their investigation into beauty salon owner Dipankar Roy's murder on land deals and construction syndicates at Bhaktinagar to find out if any other reason than his protest against alleged drug peddlers triggered the killing, sources said today.

Dipankar Roy had been beaten to death and his body was found on the bank of the Mahananda.

"We know the two main accused, Mankumar Rai and Mithun Roy, had a grudge against Dipankar as he had protested the duo's drug peddling and other anti-social activities at Sarkarpara. That is the main angle of the enquiry. Still, the police are probing to find out if Dipankar had dealt in the construction syndicates at Bhaktinagar as the two accused work as real estate agents and supply materials to builders in the locality. We have to know if rivalry between construction syndicates led to the murder," said an officer of the Siliguri metropolitan police.

Mankumar and Mithun are still at large and the police are conducting raids on different locations to arrest them.

The officer said buildings were mushrooming on either side of Eastern Bypass at Bhaktinagar and the local youths were running construction syndicates.

"We have to find out whether Dipankar was also into the building business. There are groups which compete for orders to supply construction materials or coax land owners and prospective buyers into inking deals. There were instances of such groups clashing with each other," said the officer.

Dipankar owned three beauty salons in Siliguri.