Kolkata, Sep 28 (IANS): A gold trader and his wife were robbed after bike-borne miscreants opened fire at them in Dankuni in Hooghly district of West Bengal, the police said on Monday.
The incident took place around 10.30 pm on Sunday in the Rail Gate area of Ward No. 9 in Dankuni. The miscreants allegedly intercepted the trader, identified as Partha Das, while he was returning home with his wife after closing his gold shop.
According to the complaint lodged by Das, he and his wife were travelling home on a motorcycle when five men riding two motorcycles came in front of them and hit their bike. The couple fell from their motorcycle due to the impact.
The miscreants then allegedly snatched a bag belonging to Das. When the trader and his wife raised an alarm, local residents rushed towards the spot. The accused allegedly fired two rounds at Das before fleeing on their motorcycles.
Fortunately, neither Das nor his wife was injured. One of the bullets, however, hit the wall of a nearby house.
The police from Dankuni police station reached the spot after being alerted and launched an investigation. The police are examining CCTV footage from the area to identify the accused and ascertain the sequence of events. The police are also investigating the circumstances that led to the firing.
Local resident and eyewitness Raju Mukherjee told media persons that he came out of his house hearing the screams of a woman.
“Six to seven boys were gathering in front of my house. After a while, I heard a woman screaming. When I came out of the house, I saw the owner of the gold shop falling into the sewer with his bike. His wife was panicking. A total of five people were trying to escape on two bikes. They fired two shots at Partha, slapped his wife, snatched the bag and left,” he said.
“I have come to know that there was some money and a mobile phone in the bag,” Mukherjee added.
An official of the Chandannagar Police Commissionerate said, “On Sunday night between 10 pm and 10.30 pm, five miscreants opened fire on a gold merchant. It is not clear why they opened fire.”
The police have started an investigation after examining the CCTV footage. Initial speculation is that the miscreants opened fire out of fear when local people came to the spot. They did not have a large amount of money. Efforts are being made to identify them by preparing sketches, the officer said.
