One of the two policemen who suffered bullet wounds during the escape bid by Bera Picture by Jahangir Badsa

A policeman who suffered shrapnel injuries during the melee. Picture by Jahangir Badsa

Another witness, homemaker Shrabani Das, said: “I was going to the post office and saw this man (Bera) waving a bomb and shouting at people to stay away. There were three men who were on a motorcycle. The man intimidating the people ran and sat on the bike with the others. But the motorcycle would not start for two to three minutes and there were no policemen in sight then.”

Police sources said the bike finally started but sputtered again after covering around 500 metres. Seeing the bike stop, locals grouped and gave the bike a chase.

“Bera then left his associates and started running alone. Two police officers from Mahishadal and Contai police stations happened to be having tea at a stall and recognised Bera as he scampered. They started chasing him. Bera finally scaled a wall and took shelter inside an abandoned house,” a senior police officer said.

By this time, the motorcycle started again and the three fled. The two officers called colleagues and requested reinforcements. A large contingent arrived and surrounded the area.

By then, many had gathered near the house but stepped back when Bera started firing. “Bera fired a few shots from his revolver but soon ran out of ammunition. The police fired back and Bera was hit in one of his legs,” a police officer said.

Bera was then asked over the loudhailer to surrender. “We saw a large number of people behind us and realised that they were in an angry mood and could lynch Bera if he did not surrender,” the officer added.

Sensing he was out of bullets, a police team entered the house, arrested Bera and seized his revolver. He was brought to the Contai police station around 2pm.

“We have arrested two persons and seized one revolver. We are still searching for the others,” East Midnapore superintendent of police V. Solomon Nesakumar said.

Asked whether there was any lapse on part of the police, Nesakumar said: “We will investigate the matter.”

However, another senior officer outside the district said: “If the policemen at the court had been vigilant, no one could have quietly supplied the bombs and guns to them.”

An alleged robber and killer tried to break out of custody from the Contai court in East Midnapore on Thursday, unleashing a hail of bullets and bombs with ammo sneaked in by an accomplice before a stuttering bike put a spoke in his wheel.

Karna Bera gave himself up after an hour of drama when he was surrounded in an abandoned house, around 1km from the court, where he had taken shelter after police declared over a loudhailer that “the public will not spare you”.

Three of Bera’s accomplices, including two undertrials, escaped on the same bike which did not pack up a second time. Two policemen were seriously injured, hit by the splinters and bullets fired by Bera on his way out.

It all began with four undertrials — Bera, Ratikanta Mondal, Surojit Guria and Sheikh Munna — being brought from Midnapore jail to the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court in Contai around 10.30am in connection with a dacoity case hearing.

In his forties, Bera is accused of bank and petrol pump robberies, and murdering a constable in 2016. He has escaped thrice earlier, twice from police custody and once from jail.

After the hearing, the undertrials were being led to the court lock-up around noon. They were not handcuffed but had ropes tied around their waists. A police officer said it was at this point that the accomplice quietly slipped a sack containing two revolvers and bombs to Bera.

“Suddenly, bombs were hurled and shots fired. Lawyers and the others started running helter-skelter. I saw a man in a full-sleeved shirt firing from a revolver. Two policemen slumped to the ground. Other cops were busy dragging the injured policemen to a safer area,” said Utpal Samanta, 35, a resident of Khejuri who had come to the court for his case.

In the melee, Bera, Surojit and Manna, along with the accomplice who had handed the ammo, ran out of the court compound, hurling bombs to keep the cops at bay.

The entire operation took about five to seven minutes. After reaching the street outside the court, known as Post Office More, Bera shouted at passers-by to clear out of the area while brandishing a bomb. Panic spread and people ran away.

Bera and some others snatched a motorcycle from a passing bike-rider at gunpoint.

Karna Bera File

In the frame on top, Bera comes out of the court complex with what looks like a bomb in hand and a sack of suspected explosives CCTV footage