Sunderbans gang behind snatching episode?

KOLKATA: They had committed robbery on a tourist boat in the Sunderbans in February followed by a daring dacoity on Basanti Highway the next day in which they killed a businessman and injured five people before looting Rs 7 lakh.
Now, the detective department of Kolkata Police has been tipped by the South 24-Parganas police that it was the gang's leader — Qutubuddin of Basanti — who had orchestrated the snatching incident in Haridevpur on January 28 in which a woman and her daughter were shot at.
"We have been informed by South 24-Paraganas police that Qutubuddin had planned the heist. We are trying to ascertain the exact sequence of events," said joint CP (crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh. The cops said that their own investigation too had pointed to this Basanti gang. "Haridevpur shares a long boundary with Bishnupur. We are trying to find out if criminals are committing crimes in Behala, Haridevpur and Thakurpukur and then escaping to the Kultali belt," said a detective department official.
In a rerun of the audacious snatching incident that shook Jadavpur about a year ago, two bike-borne miscreants tried to snatch a gold chain from a woman when she was walking to the local bus stop at Haridevpur to see off her college-going daughter on a January morning this year. One of the accused fired two rounds towards several local women who tried to chase them. Scared, the woman shut herself off in a room and even denied go to the police station. She was later escorted by her relatives to Haridevpur PS where she lodged a complaint.
The incident took place around 9.45 am when Shampa Samaddar (45) was going to drop her daughter to a nearby bus stop on the 8 feet long Daspara Road. "Shampa noticed a man wearing a shawl waiting at one corner. Suddenly, that person lunged towards her and grabbed the gold necklace. In his hurry, he could get hold of only 1/3rd of the necklance. As soon as Shampa's daughter found out about the crime, she raised a hue and cry to attract attention. Responding to her calls, several residents - mostly women came out," said an officer.
Police said the gang members are from Kaikhali, Kultali and Basanti and are led by two persons - Shahjahan Sk of Canning and Qutubuddin of Basanti. "Shahjahan was earlier arrested for killing a man in Dhosa market and is now out on bail,. The other gang members are newcomers," police said.
The gang had hit headlines with multiple strikes in south suburban Kolkata and South 24-Parganas but it was the attack on the ferry that made the administration sit up and take note. "It was Shahjahan's arrest in March that led us to Qutubuddin and South 24 Pargana police actually carried out the arrest," said an officer. The Sunderbans dacoity was still creating ripples in the administration and the city when the gang struck a builder's shop near Basanti, say police. "They started spraying bullets on owners Asit and Amit Manna and four clients. Asit died on the spot and Amit barely survived the attack," said an officer.