Cuttack: Three members of a family, including a man and his son, sustained critical bullet injuries after a bike-borne miscreant allegedly opened fire at them near Majhisahi at Jenapada in Athagarh on Sunday evening over a reported love affair.
The injured have been identified as Bansidhar Nayak, Jitendra Nayak and Dinabandhu Nayak.
Sources said that the unidentified miscreant fired eight rounds of bullets at the trio while they were sitting at the village club and fled the spot.
The injured were rushed to Athagrah hospital and as their condition deteriorated, all three were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
While the precise reason behind the firing is yet to be ascertained, locals suspect that the three may have been attacked over a love affair.
On the other hand, the victims’ relatives alleged that the miscreant was Lituna. A relative of the injured said, “Lituna of our village shot my brother. We had an argument earlier over some reason. The matter was resolved but he suddenly came on a motorcycle and shot my brother. He was a retired military officer. I don’t know why he did this. After the firing, another person from our village took him away on a motorcycle.”
On being informed, Athagarh SDPO along with other police officers rushed to the spot and launched an investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, Athagarh police have identified the accused and are conducting raids at several places to nab him.
