Abhijit Samanta can barely walk a few steps before he starts panting.

The 33-year-old was shot just below his neck as he cycled furiously to make sure his sister was safe. Sulekha Kajli was part of a Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee group trying to beat back trigger-happy policemen from Bhangabera.

“I never dabbled in politics and did not have the faintest idea of what was in store for me,” Abhijit said.

The farmer, who owns a two-bigha plot, said that when he heard where his sister was, he panicked.

“My heart was racing and I pedalled hard. I saw my sister writhing in pain. Seconds later, a bullet hit me and I fainted,” said the father of two.

“We have spent virtually all our savings on my treatment and now I have switched to homoeopathy,” said Abhijit.

The wound in her lower back still hurts, but seeing her schoolgoing daughter forced to sit at home pains her more.

Tapasi Das, 32, was fleeing home when a police bullet came flying her way.

Her house-painter husband Sambhu has since then been toiling to pay for her treatment but couldn’t earn enough to send 14-year-old Ruposhi (in picture with her mother) to school.

“The future looks bleak,” sighed Sambhu as he got ready to face another day.