Jaiswal at Bally police station on Thursday (Gopal Senapati)

A 38-year-old trader alleged he was shot at outside his Bally home in Howrah on Thursday afternoon after two motorcycle-borne men tried to snatch his bag, which contained around Rs 25,000.

Iron scrap dealer Chandilal Jaiswal told police he escaped from the “assailants” by rushing inside his neighbour’s house and bolting the door. “The two men banged on the door and tried to break it down, but failed. They left after sometime,” Jaiswal said on Thursday evening.

Jaiswal said the bullet grazed his palm and left injury marks on his fingers. He was taken to TL Jaiswal Hospital for first-aid. He later lodged a complaint with Bally police station.

The resident of Guha Road told the police that he was about to start his motorcycle around 1.30pm when the incident occurred. “Suddenly two men — aged around 45 and 52 years — appeared behind me and tried to snatch my bag. When I resisted, they hit me with the butt of a revolver,” recounted Jaiswal.

He said he started running towards his building and one of the duo shot at him.

“I managed to enter the ground floor home of Sambhunath Jaiswal and quickly locked the door. None of the local residents dared to come of out their homes hearing the gunshot,” Jaiswal told Metro.

The police have registered a case and are verifying Jaiswal’s statement. “There seems to be little indication that a shot was fired. We have not recovered any empty shell from the spot. Also, a medical examination has ruled out injury from firearms. We are probing the case,” said Sukesh Kumar Jain, the additional superintendent of Howrah police.

“There are a number of iron scrap dealers in the area and business rivalry may have led to the alleged attack,” said an officer.

In January 2007, a trader named Kishenlal Jaiswal was shot dead by two bike-borne criminals in Bally.