The realtor who had a narrow escape when his Volvo car came under fire on BT Road on Saturday afternoon received a call, when he was at Belgharia police station in the evening, from a man claiming to be a gangster lodged in a jail in Bihar.

The caller, who identified himself as Subodh Singh, said that had he wanted, all the bullets that hit the car would have been pumped into Ajay Mandal’s body.

Mandal, the realtor, said on Sunday the entire conversation happened in front of the commissioner of the Barrackpore police, Alok Rajoria. The commissioner did not answer calls or respond to text messages from The Telegraph till late on Sunday.

Till Sunday night, the police could not arrest anyone in connection with the shooting. A motorcycle, which the police claimed was used by the attackers, has been seized.

Mandal said on Sunday he would shut down his real estate business in Titagarh, on the northern fringes of the city, as it was getting difficult to do business in the area without yielding to extortion from criminals.

Mandal said Singh called him again on Sunday afternoon asking him to “cooperate” with him if he wanted to get “protection” from all goons.

“I was at the police station yesterday (Saturday) when I received a call from an unknown number. The caller said he was Subodh Singh and that had he wanted, his men could have killed me,” Mandal told this newspaper.

Mandal, a resident of Nonchandanpukur in Barrackpore, escaped unscathed on Saturday as two bike-borne men overtook his Volvo S90 at Rathtala on BT Road, barely a kilometre from Dunlop, and sprayed bullets on the left side of the car.

Mandal was sitting beside the driver, on the left of the car.

Singh, a gangster from Jharkhand, is currently lodged inside a jail in Bihar, officers said. He has multiple cases of extortion and murder against him and has been allegedly running his gang from behind bars.

“He (Singh) told me ‘tum bacha nahi, bachaya gaya hai. Mere log chahte to antho-ke-anth goliyan aapko lagti (You have survived because we let you survive. Had we wanted, all eight bullets would have hit you),” Mandal said.

The police said they were tracking the calls made to the businessman.

Mandal, a senior citizen, said he had been paying money to a local goon named Shahzada for more than 20 years.

“I pay regularly to a local goon named Shahzada. He keeps demanding money and I keep obliging. I am not sure if Shahzada is related to Subodh Singh,” he said.

Mandal, who has recently developed at least three real estate projects in Titagarh and runs an automobile showroom nearby, said he will wrap up his business in the locality.

“My family and I are too disturbed after the incident (on Saturday). My family does not want me to do business in Titagarh anymore,” Mandal said.

He also alleged that several years ago he had informed the police about extortion. But soon after, a bomb was hurled at one of his construction sites. “After that I didn’t get in touch with the police. The police, too, did not do anything,” he said.

Many who live in the industrial belt of Titagarh said the brazen daylight firing on a busy stretch has left them shaken.

A developer said: “All the bullets were fired at him. Had even one bullet hit him, he would have been dead. This could happen to any of us
any day.”

The police said they could zero in on the number plate of the bike used by the attackers after analysing CCTV footage.

“The bike was found parked near Belgharia railway station on Sunday. We suspect the shooters escaped by train,” an officer of Barrackpore City Police said.