Two people were killed when unidentified gunmen fired on five men at the ruling Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) office at Kharagpur in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district on Wednesday. Police identified the two as Shrinivasan Naidu alias Srinu Naidu, 27, and Dharma Roy, 25. Three others were wounded in the shooting. The slain were TMC workers.

Naidu was the husband of TMC councillor Pooja Naidu, who represents ward number 18 (Nayakhuli locality) in Kharagpur. He along with three TMC workers and a visitor, who had come to meet the councillor, were at the office when the gunmen arrived there in a white Maruti van. Minutes later, the gunmen barged in and shot Naidu point blank in his head and chest before shooting the others. They threw crude bombs at the party office before fleeing from the scene.

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Police rushed to the scene and launched a search for the gunmen while the five were first rushed to a West Midnapore hospital and then to Apollo Hospitals in Kolkata, around 140 km away. The visitor, S Srinu, was reported to be critical while the other two had been shot in the stomach and chest.

Doctors who attended to the deceased said Naidu had a bullet injury on the right side of his head and shoulder. He was brought to the hospital around 6.15 pm and declared brought dead. The other deceased, Dharma Roy, was declared brought dead by the hospital around 6.50 pm. Roy had bullet injuries on head and the right side of his chest.

A police officer said that they were investigating the shooting at the TMC office but were yet to arrest anyone. They were yet to ascertain whether the incident was a fallout of political rivalry or personal enmity.

Naidu, a muscleman, had a narrow escape a few months ago when a group of men had shot at him. Srinu has acted in two Bengali films one of which is yet to be released. Police cordoned off the area around the TMC office following tensions after the shooting.

In Kolkata, TMC leaders refused to comment on the attack saying that they were trying to ascertain what had prompted the shooting.

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