Two armed attacks on businessmen, one on Jamshedpur and the other in adjoining Adityapur on Saturday night, were a rude awakening to police that imposing lockdown norms among the members of the public in the time of pandemic could not take precedence over crime fighting.

No one was injured in the attacks on a chicken trader at MGM police station area and a builder near Sudha Dairy on the Tata-Kandra Road, but the incidents in which guns were used have triggered fear among people, especially the business community.

Two men on a bike opened fire at the car of builder Sanjay Mohanty at 8pm on Saturday on the Tata-Kandra four-lane road while he was returning home at Mangalam City in Adityapur.

The windshield of his car was shattered but fortunately, he escaped unhurt.

The attackers fled in the initial commotion when residents of the area came out on the road to check. OC of Adityapur police station Sushma Kumari, who arrived at the spot soon enough, found four empty cartridges. She escorted Mohanty to the police station where his statement was recorded.

"Mohanty is in the business of buying and selling property, besides constructing residential apartments. According to preliminary investigations, it seems the attack may have been linked to a land dispute. We hope to arrest the culprits soon," Kumari told The Telegraph Online.

She said Mohanty, who had recently bought a plot of land in Ashingi locality under RIT thana area in Adityapur, had developed it into smaller plots for building houses. “He may have had issues with a gang of local goons in this regard. The firing could be an outcome of that,” the OC said.

The other incident took place near Dimna Chowk under MGM thana area in Jamshedpur at 8.30pm. Two men in a bike came up to Vickey Singh, a chicken trader, and pointed a pistol at him. Fortunately, the pistol misfired, but as the criminals were trying to reload it, they noticed two policemen approaching the scene. They ran. The cops noticed them and gave chase but could not catch the duo.

In his police statement, Vickey identified his attackers as Sajan Mishra and Akash Mahto.

MGM OC Rakesh Kumar said the attackers had information that Vickey had gone to his poultry farm at Patamda and would return that way. “Looks like the attack was linked to an old dispute,” Kumar said, adding that the attackers were yet to be caught.