One killed in bus firing

Asansol, Sept. 7: A youth shot dead a rice trader in a crowded minibus in Burdwan this afternoon for refusing to part with his bags full of cash and opened indiscriminate fire inside the vehicle before fleeing, but none of the other passengers were injured.

A schoolgirl sitting beside Madhusudan Roy, 40, said the youth, who was behind the trader, put a revolver to his back and demanded that he hand over the bags to him. “When he refused, the youth pumped a bullet into his back. The attacker then whipped out a pipegun from his pocket and fired with both guns at the bus roof and windows to scare the other passengers,” she said.

The youth got down at Jamuria Bazaar and hopped onto an accomplice’s bike before escaping. “He fired in the air once or twice and rode away,” another passenger said. “It was sheer luck that we did not suffer injuries. The bus was fairly crowded, with all the seats full,” he added.

Police said Roy, a manager at a rice mill, had come to Jamuria from Burdwan town to collect dues from wholesellers.

Around 200 people blocked the road at Jamuria Bazaar, accusing the police of arriving late. “Although the police station is just 500 metres from the spot where the attack took place, the police took half an hour to arrive,” said Sheikh Mujibul, a passenger. “The injured man was breathing for around 20 minutes. Had the police come earlier, he could have been saved,” he said.

The police took Roy to Asansol sub-divisional hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. The police said Roy had been shot near the spinal cord.

The passengers said they did not take Roy to hospital because they feared “police harassment”. The police said the attacker could have followed Roy when he boarded the bus.

The attack came less than a week after a commissionerate was formed for the Asansol-Durgapur belt. Jamuria is part of the zone. The commissionerate was formed for better maintenance of law and order in the belt notorious for its coal mafia.

The police commissioner of Asansol-Durgapur, Ajay Nand, said: “I agree the police arrived late. Had the police been prompt, the mob fury could have been avoided.”