A civic volunteer suffered a bullet injury on his left thigh on Friday afternoon when a youth fired during a police raid at a guest house in Adyapith in Dakshineswar, on the northern fringes of the city.
An officer overpowered the youth and seized the gun that was allegedly used to fire at the civic volunteer. Three men were arrested during the raid at the guest house, located on DD Mondal Road in Dakshineswar’s Bachaspatipara.
The injured volunteer, Sheikh Rezual, 26, has been admitted to a private hospital on EM Bypass. He will be operated on, doctors said.
Around 4.30pm, a team of police officers and civic volunteers from Rahara police station turned up at the guest house following a tip-off that three alleged criminals were holed up there.
The team was investigating a recent dacoity at a plastic factory in Rahara, around 10km north of Dakshineswar. An armed gang had robbed Rs 34 lakh from the factory owner at gunpoint on the night of January 6.
On Friday, officers from Rahara police station split into two and raided the guest house. The officer in charge of the police station, who was leading one of the teams, first spoke to guest house employees at the reception and showed them pictures of the three accused.
Once the staff at the reception confirmed that the trio had checked in, the officers seized documents related to their bookings, said a senior officer of the Barrackpore police commissionerate.
“The first team raided a room where two of the accused were staying. After questioning them about the third accused, a senior officer and a civic volunteer were sent to round him up from his room,” the officer of the police commissionerate said.
The firing took place when the officer and the civic volunteer knocked on the door of the room on the first floor where the third accused had put up.
“The youth possibly realised that the police were at the door. He opened the door and fired from a 7mm pistol. One bullet was fired before the officer overpowered him and seized the firearm. The civic volunteer suffered a bullet injury on his left thigh,” the officer said.
The accused who fired has been identified as Sheikh Shanu, in his mid-20s. He had been arrested in 2018 in Kamarhati in connection with a robbery, senior officers said.
A resident of Kamarhati, Shanu had been staying in Kankinara in North 24-Parganas for some time now.
“Several thousands of rupees and three cartridges were seized during the raid at the guest house,” an officer said.