Jalpaiguri>Bullet hits six-yr-old as gang robs shop

Jalpaiguri, July 29/TT: A six-year-old boy was injured when a bullet ricocheted of the concrete floor and hit him as a gang went on a looting spree at a jewellery shop in a busy Belakoba market this afternoon.

The gang of five had come on two motorcycles, lobbing bombs to create panic and keep away people. Shopkepers alleged that pleas for help at the police outpost 100 metres away went unanswered. Earlier this week in Calcutta, an 88-year-old woman died during a robbery while frantic calls for help to “100”— a police helpline — did not get through.

More than 270km from Belakoba, in South Dinajpur’s Buniyadpur, a gang of 10 looted two adjacent jewellery shops late in the evening. An employee of a shop owned by brothers Labh and Kush Karmakar, was hit with a dagger when he tried to resist the robbers. He was admitted to Gangarampur subdivisional hospital.

A local source in Belakoba, 16km from Jalpaiguri town, said the gang of five on two motorbikes stopped in front of the jewellery shop of Ranjit Roy around 1pm.

“First they hurled a bomb to create panic. Then one of them stormed into the shop and slapped me, whipped out a gun, pointed it at me and asked me to hand over all the gold, valuables and cash,” said Roy, the owner of JP Jewellers.

Roy’s three employees and a woman with her six-year-old son were seated inside when the robbers arrived. The woman was later identified as Sabitri Roy from Babupara.

“Holding me at gun point, one of the goons first called his cohorts, who were waiting outside. Immediately, they entered and started stashing away the gold ornaments in the rucksacks they were carrying. They took nearly 1kg of gold worth Rs 24 lakh and Rs 10,000 in cash. The entire operation lasted for 10 minutes. Before leaving, one of them fired and the bullet hit the concrete floor. But it deflected and hit the child who fell off the tool on which he was sitting,” said Roy.

The bullet had hit the child on the waist. He has been admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in serious condition.

Roy said he did not know the woman except that she had just come in to buy an ear piece.

Outside the shop, the local people had started gathering in ones and twos. Some even pelted the gang with stones when they came out of the shop. But they fired two more rounds in the air and fled the spot by 1.15pm. Local people said they saw the bikes speeding towards Mantadari on way to Siliguri.

The market has around 60 shops. All of them were open at the time of the robbery.

“We could make out that something was going on, but did not realise that dacoits had entered the shop. When the bomb burst and a firing followed, we informed the police outpost. But nobody came,” said a shopkeeper.

The outrage spilled over and a mob raided the police outpost where an assistant subinspector and two constables were on duty. The three fled to avoid the crowd. Policemen from Jalpaiguri and Rajganj arrived an hour later.

“We were shocked when we realised that policemen, posted here to provide us with security, were silent spectators and took no initiative to arrest the goons, even as we came out and tried to stop them. If they had acted promptly, the gang would have been caught,” said Uttam Roy, another shop owner.

The local people said the two motorbikes initially tried to cross the railway tracks at Belakoba but finding the level crossing gates shut, they returned and fled towards Mantadari.

Later Anand Kumar, the superintendent of police of Jalpaiguri, said one of the motorcycles was found abandoned at Basiakhawa forest, about 18km from the market.

“We have started investigation. Searches are on,” he said.

“In case any policeman is found guilty of not acting on time as alleged by the local people, appropriate steps would be taken.”