Puri: An alleged criminal sustained grievous injuries after miscreants opened fire at him near the Nakachana Gate of Gundhicha temple under Kumbharpada police station here Tuesday, police said.
Sanjay Behera, 27, a history-sheeter, was chitchatting with his friends near the temple when three bike-borne youths reached the spot and opened fire at him. “Although Sanjay managed to escape the first bullet, the second one struck his left arm making him fall on the ground and sustain grievous head injuries,” said a local requesting anonymity.
Sources said passersby rushed a profusely bleeding Sanjay to the district headquarters hospital where the doctors referred him to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.
Informed, a team of Kumbharpada police reached the spot with a forensic team and began investigations. A cartridge and a blood-stained tar were seized from the spot.
City DSP Prasanta Kumar Pattanaik said a probe is underway on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sanjay’s family members and two dedicated teams of police have been formed to investigate the issue. “We suspect it is the handiwork of Ganesh Parida and Jitu Sahu, also history-sheeters. The incident appears to be the fallout of an ongoing enmity over allotment of a parking lot near the Gundicha temple, extortion and drug peddling,” the DSP said.
Meanwhile, Sanjay’s family members blamed the involvement of Bhugu Pradhan in the firing. Notably, Sanjay had opened fire on Pradhan, a resident of Balighat in Talabania police limits, over some trivial issue April 11, 2017.
Notably, Sanjay has several criminal cases registered against him with Town, Beach, Kumbharpada and Talabania police stations.