Krishnagar, June 22: A gang of dacoits raided the house of a garment trader and shot him dead last night at a village in Nadia district.

Srikrishnapur village in Tehatta, 160 km from Calcutta, erupted in anger this morning as police were accused of looking the other way while the dacoits fled with the loot.

Around 15 men in masks broke into the house of Bibhuti Biswas and took away cash and jewellery worth Rs 70,000 after killing him. His nephew was injured when he tried to resist them.

The looting continued for about an hour, after which the gang swooped on the home of Lakhi Mandol, a wealthy farmer.

Neighbours, who rushed to a police outpost, alleged that policemen patrolling the village saw the dacoits fleeing but did not respond.

Nearly 1,000 villagers gheraoed the outpost and locked the policemen inside.

Another group put up a roadblock on the highway connecting Tehatta and Burdwan, bringing traffic to a halt for several hours.