Criminals barge into Samastipur trader's home, open fire

PATNA: Two armed criminals barged into a scrap dealer’s house on Samastipur’s busy station road and opened indiscriminate fire wounding him, his wife and their minor daughter late on Thursday night. Their son had a lucky escape as he was in another room.

The trader, Badri Goenka, his wife Sonam and 13-year-old daughter Aditi have been admitted to a private nursing home in Samastipur where Goenka’s condition is reported to be critical as he has been hit by four bullets.

The incident took place around 10.30 pm at the family’s Ghosh Lane residence on the busy railway station road. The entrance to the house was left open as renovation work is currently underway, a close relative of the family said.

Two youths brandishing revolvers entered the house and first fired at Goenka. When he tried to escape, the other assailant shot him in the stomach, thigh and hands. When his wife came rushing to save him, she was also shot from point blank range.

The couple’s daughter received bullet injuries while trying to escape after her mother was shot at. Luckily, Goenka’s son Ayush escaped the attack as he was in another room. The attackers left on foot as the neighbours had shut their doors out of fear.

“While the condition of Goenka is stated to be critical, his wife and daughter are out of danger,” a police officer posted at the Samastipur town police station said on Friday.

Samastipur SP Vikas Burman said efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the criminals involved in the murderous attack on the scrap dealer and his family members. “CCTV footage is being obtained. Raids are underway to nab the criminals involved in the crime,” he said over phone on Friday.

A special police team led by deputy SP Pritish Kumar has been set up to crack the case at the earliest.

Meanwhile, CMP–ML (Liberation) district committee member Surendra Prasad Singh expressed his deep concern over the spurt in incidents of crime in Samastipur district and in areas falling under Tajpur, Ujiarpur and Kalyanpur blocks in particular.

“It seems there is no law and order worth the name in the district. Criminals are ruling the roost. People have been left to fend for themselves,” Singh lamented.

(Inputs by SK Jain in Samastipur)