A 44-year-old man went on the rampage, beating up random people on the street and vandalising a medicine shop. The man is a policeman, it later came to light.
Eye witnesses said Ranjit Singh was circling Baisakhi Island several times on his bike on January 28 afternoon. “Suddenly he started bashing up the civic volunteers and rickshaw drivers close by. He even attacked a mother and child who were travelling by rickshaw,” said a resident of Baisakhi Abasan who was in the area.
There was a pillion rider behind Singh but he was not involved in the rampage.
The man then turned to the store called Medicure, smashing bottles, dislodging shelves, breaking computers and CCTV monitors. He even hurled bricks at the staffers, who escaped and called the police. Singh then tied to flee but was caught by locals who bashed him up. His pillion rider wasn’t spared either
Neighbours said Singh stayed in the adjacent Police Abasan in AF Block.
Singh’s family members soon arrived and pleaded for clemency, citing that Singh was unwell.
“People assaulted my husband so ruthlessly that he was badly injured, especially on the head,” said his wife Rumki Singh. “He had not slept in a few days and was very stressed, leading to the outburst. We had to admit him to an asylum the next day. Such is his trauma that he imagines that the doctors are coming to attack him.”
Singh’s wife said that he was a policeman employed with the traffic department in the Tollygunge area. They have an 18-year-old son too. “We have lodged an FIR on the situation and want justice for him.”
The ransacked medicine shop meanwhile had CCTVs and they have handed the relevant footage over to the police.
An officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate later said that the medicine shop had not lodged a formal complaint against Singh. “But we have received a complaint from his wife and have started an investigation into the matter,” the officer said.