A businessman seated next to his driver in a Volvo car was fired at several times by two men on a motorbike who drew close as the car slowed down at Rathtala on BT Road, about a kilometre north of Dunlop on Saturday.

Ajay Mandal, a resident of Nonchandanpukur in Barrackpore, escaped unscathed. The Volvo S90 had at least five bullet holes on its left side, police said. More shots may have been fired.

“The car was at the Rathtala crossing, headed towards Dunlop, when a two-wheeler overtook it and bullets were fired from the car’s left,” said Alok Rajoria, commissioner of Barrackpore police.

“We have learnt that Mandal was receiving ransom calls for some time. But he did not complain to the police. A probe has been initiated,” Rajoria said.

Real estate businessman Mandal told TV channel ABP Ananda in the evening that he had gone to the police earlier but the alleged extortionists came to know about such visits and increased their demand. So, he tried to settle with them on his own.

Mandal also said he had obliged an extortionist named Shahzada several times over the past few years for his projects in North 24-Parganas’ Titagarh. “Sometimes ₹2 lakh, sometimes ₹3 lakh, depending on the project,” he said.

Mandal suggested that the police had not been of much help.

Rathtala is a busy intersection, about 12km north of the heart of Calcutta. The brazenness of the daylight shooting sent shivers among those who were there. More than one person said they were so stunned by the gunshots that they froze during the attack.

Witnesses said around 2.30pm, the bike-borne youths drew close to the car as it slowed down near a petrol pump. They fired indiscriminately and sped away.

“Initially, it seemed like someone was bursting kali pataka (firecracker). A woman seated beside me said a car was under attack. We looked up and spotted the car moving to the side,” said the owner of a tea stall at the crossing.

Across the road from the shooting scene stands Kamarhati municipality. Gopal Saha, the municipality’s chairman, said the police collected footage from the cameras that cover the Rathtala intersection from the civic body.

“This is scary that bike-borne miscreants are opening fire on a car. The owner could have died,” Saha said.

Mandal said the man at his car’s wheel was also his security guard.

The driver said: “My boss was seated beside me in the front. We crossed the traffic signal and just as we reached the spot near the petrol pump at the crossing, two men came on a bike and started firing. They fired eight-nine times.”

Besides real estate, Mandal owns a car dealership on BT Road and a two-wheeler dealership in Baguiati, the police said.

A sticker on the car’s windshield says “VIP”.

“The youths rode a TVS Apache bike and after firing at the car, drove towards Dunlop,” a senior officer of Belghoria police station said.

“The two youths had been following the car for some time along BT Road and opened fire when it slowed down.