Patna: Bihar’s Begusarai district was thrown into chaos Tuesday evening as two gunmen on a motorbike allegedly opened fire on people in several places along the highway leading to Begusarai from Samastipur, killing one person and injuring nine others.
The nature of the attack — the gunmen apparently fired at random, not knowing who they were shooting — appears to have left the authorities puzzled, with one senior police officer blaming it on “psychopaths”.
According to the Begusarai police, one person named Chandan Kumar, 31, died in the shooting, while nine were injured and rushed to the hospital for treatment. Several were taken to Patna and all are out of danger, the police confirmed.
The injured, according to the police note released Tuesday, include Rohit Kumar, Gaurav Kumar (23), Deepak Choudhary (22), Arvind Choudhary, Vishal Kumar (27), Amarjit Das (40), Prashant Kumar Rajak, Bharat Yadav (45) and Jeetu.
Speaking to ThePrint, Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Yogendra Kumar said the suspects were seen crossing the Ganga via the Rajendra Bridge and entering Patna district, 130 kilometres away from Begusarai, after the incident. According to their report, one of the attackers was said to be dressed in a pair of “white shorts” and the other in a “yellow T-shirt”.
“They are yet to be identified,” said Kumar, adding that barricades have been put up in the area of shooting and several police teams are patrolling the route.
The incident appears to have confounded the police. “I can understand crime inflicted due to personal enmity, but in this case, innocent persons were shot. The culprits did not even know who they were shooting. The two shot at random. It appears to be the work of psychopaths,” said an ADGP (additional director general of police)-ranked officer who didn’t want to be named.
The police have also come under fire for alleged lapses on their part. The shooting took place along National Highways 28 and 31 and the men covered a distance of 30 kilometres during the incident, crossing three police stations.
On their part, the police claim they have officers patrolling the highways at all times of the day — although none were visible during the shooting.
Speaking to mediapersons Wednesday, ADGP (HQ) Jitendra Singh Gangwar said: “Prima facie, our patrolling party was on the streets. Still, they either could not stop the criminals or could not do the checking. In this connection, seven police officers have been suspended with immediate effect.”
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, has been quick to react, attacking the Nitish Kumar-led government over the alleged “jungle raj” in the state.
However, the seemingly wanton nature of the Begusarai shooting has left both police and politicians stumped. “This crime is not a usual crime. There is no theft or any motive behind the shootings. The political reaction is natural, but the government’s priority is to arrest the two criminals,” Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar told ThePrint.
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‘Crime on the rise,’ says BJP
“The shooting is the first of its kind to be reported in Bihar,” said BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, who visited Begusarai following the shooting. “It was like the ones reported from Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir when they were witnessing terrorist attacks. It shows the confidence level of criminals in the state, and it’s high time that [chief minister and JD(U) supremo] Nitish Kumar stepped up and took action against criminals.”
Last month, the BJP alleged that crime in Bihar had been on the rise ever since the grand alliance, which includes the JD(U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), came to power — a charge the JD(U) has denied, insisting that every criminal is hunted down by the police.
Nitish Kumar, who also holds the home portfolio, had held a meeting to review the law-and-order situation in the state Saturday, and asked top officials to go after criminals. “This appears to be the response of the criminals,” said a senior police officer to ThePrint.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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