The stolen Maruti Alto the robbers used to block the road. (Mita Roy)

Purulia, Dec. 9: Policemen on highway patrol responded promptly to a phone call last night and engaged bandits in a gunfight that left one of them dead in Purulia.

Another robber, who was injured and had been hiding in a forest, was held this morning. The third fled, leaving behind the Maruti Alto they had stolen in Jharkhand and used to block the road leading to a railway level crossing on a stretch — some 300km from Calcutta — where humps usually slow down vehicles.

After the first heist, close to midnight, the goons set the trap again and were waiting for another vehicle when the police arrived.

Kritwibas Mahato was returning home with his relatives after admitting his nephew’s wife to the district hospital in Purulia town when his Tata Sumo slowed down to a crawl seeing the Alto parked across the road.

Three men soon appeared, aiming their revolver nozzles inside the Sumo.

“They asked us to roll down the windows and ordered us to get down. Then they asked us to hand over our belongings. We had about Rs 5,000 on us, which we promptly handed over. After getting the money, they moved their car and let us go,” said Kritwibas, 52, an affluent farmer who also owns a hotel in the area.

After the Mahatos left, the bandits put their car back in the middle of the road.

“I called up the circle inspector and he was on patrol close by,” said Kritwibas.

The goons saw the police jeep arrive and hurried into the car, but before they could turn and speed away, the police blocked their way. The encounter followed.

At least eight bullets were fired. Two of them hit their targets.

One of the goons took a bullet in his neck and the man at the wheel was shot in his hand. As the man shot in the neck fell, the others ran into the jungle along National Highway 32 at Kantadih.

The police identified the slain robber as Sheikh Mustaq, 27. “After the encounter, we recovered two country-made revolvers,” said an officer. The jeep, he added, “had stopped very close to the Alto and we fired from close”.

According to the police, they had only fired thrice.

Local villagers caught hold of the injured robber, Sheikh Nawab, 25, when he emerged from the forest, apparently to catch a bus to Jamshedpur.

The police said the robbers were from Jamshedpur, about 70km away.

“We are trying to ascertain their involvement in other heists here. Preliminary inquiries have revealed that the gang operated from Jamshedpur and the car they were travelling in was stolen from Nimdih in Jharkhand on December 5,” said Purulia superintendent of police Rajesh Yadav.

Highway heists are rampant in Purulia and neighbouring Bankura. Early in November, dacoits tied a family to their car in the middle of a state highway near Bishnupur in Bankura, to use them as a bait to stop other vehicles. A truck rammed into the car, killing three of them.