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The youth who shot at a 21-year-old man for trying to prevent the harassment of two schoolgirls in Baranagar on Saturday has criminal antecedents and has been identified, claimed police.
The cops, however, refused to name the accused because that might jeopardise the probe. They had been looking for the youth in connection with other crimes. He had managed to escape when the police raided a hideout on Friday.
Mangal Sardar, who was shot on the right shoulder joint when he tried to resist the accused and his accomplice, identified the youth as his assailant when he was shown a photograph of him among other photographs, said an officer at Baranagar police station.
The bullet was removed from Sardar’s body after a surgery at RG Kar hospital on Saturday.
One of the girls who was harassed, a Class X student, was shown eight photographs of local criminals. She identified the shooter as one of the two who were harassing her, said the police.
The incident occurred on a road in a residential neighbourhood leading to two schools and colleges, barely 700m from the Indian Statistical Institute.
“The shooter, who is about 21 years old, was released on bail from the Dum Dum jail last month. He was staying in a hideout in the Bonhooghly area along with other criminals. He gave us the slip when the hideout was raided,” added the officer.
According to the police, the shooter had been arrested six months ago for drug peddling. They claimed that they had learnt that he had obtained a firearm after coming out of jail on bail.
“Since he was again getting involved in crimes, we had conducted the raid to nab him,” said the officer.
Both the girl and Sardar had said the shooter was in a black shirt. Investigators spoke to residents in Rajibnagar, where the shooter was staying, and learnt that he had been roaming around the area in a black shirt.
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