The Baleswar police have launched a manhunt to nab a group of miscreants who opened fire on a security man during a blockade checking on Sunday night on the road between Gopalpur and Baleswar.
The group comprising five persons, including a woman, fled from Bhadrak district towards Baleswar after injuring a person, Mir Arfan, of Bental village under the Bhadrak Rural police station by firing bullets in the evening earlier. The five miscreants came by a Bolero vehicle and in order to escape from Baleswar police action opened fire near Jaydevkasba under the Sadar police station. Home Guard Pradip Behera, the driver of the PCR van, was injured.
The group fled from the spot under the cover of darkness to a nearby village abandoning their vehicle on road. Behera, who was injured in his left side ribs, was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital here. According to the Baleswar police, the group included one Sk latif and his wife, belonging to Kendrapada. latif, who had some dispute with his father-in-law, had gone to his father-in-law house in the evening along with other group members. After a heated altercation with latif’s father-in-law, they opened fire at him before fleeing towards Baleswar.
The Baleswar Sadar police have registered a case under Section 307 of IPC and Sections 25 and 27 of Arms Act against the absconding culprits. “We erected the blockade near Jaydevksaba on the road connecting Gopalpur and Baleswar headquarters. It was raining and dark. We could see five persons get down from the vehicle. When we approached them, one of them opened fire at our men and injured the driver. Efforts are on to track them,” informed Sadar police station IIC Jaswant Samal, adding that the vehicle used by the goons was a stolen one from Jajpur district.