Cattle traders, Sadananda Pradhan, Uday Mohanta and Raghunath Pradhan of Kansara village under Baria police limits were looted of ` 1.33 lakh cash by dacoits near Kendua and Ranipur forest in broad daylight on Wednesday.
The trio was returning home from the Jhumpura weekly market when four miscreants wearing black masks blocked its way near the Kendua-Ranipur forest road. They arrived in two motorbikes and fired empty bullets in air to frighten the traders. The dacoits open fired on a trader when they refused to hand over the cash. Sadananda sustained bullet injury on the left shoulder. Witnessing the injury of Sadananda, the other two traders handed over the cash bag to the miscreants in order to save their life. Soon, the looters fled through the Baikunthpur village road.local villagers who rushed to the spot hearing the screaming of the victims rescued the injured trader and sent him to a Keonjhar hospital for treatment. A police team led by Baria police station IIC Kelucharan Swain reached at the spot to conduct a field inquiry, but no body had been arrested. According to a FIR lodged with the Baria police, Sadananda lost Rs 53,000, Uday Rs 30,000 and Raghunath Rs 50,000.