A final-year student of a government dental college in Darbhanga and her father are critical after two armed criminals shot at them on their way to the college on Monday.

Arun Kumar (45) and his daughter Bhawna (24), residents of Neem Pokhar locality of Darbhanga, 135km northeast of Patna, were operated upon at the Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital (DMCH). Police attributed a love affair for the murderous attack on the father and daughter.

According to police, Suraj and Golu, bothers and residents of Danapur police station area in Patna, were keeping an eye on the movements of the girl who, Suraj claimed to have earlier married at a temple.

An investigating officer probing the incident said: "Suraj worked as a driver at a private lodge where Bhawna used to stay while preparing for the medical entrance test in 2009 and fell in love with her."

A relative of the girl, however, told police that Suraj was trying to blackmail Bhawna with some photographs. "Suraj was pressurising her for marriage, which her parents were opposed to. Even the girl (Bhawna) was not in favour of the marriage," a close relative of the girl told the police.

There is anger against the authorities over a spate of crime in the region and state.

Monday's incident took place a day after armed criminals shot dead Tripurari Sharan Sharma, a practicing lawyer at Gopalganj civil court, on Sunday. Sharma had earlier worked as a public prosecutor in Gopalganj. The legal fraternity of this district headquarters town is up in arms against the deteriorating law and order condition.

Giving details of Monday's crime, the police said two motorcycle-borne criminals - Suraj Kumar (25) and Golu Kumar (20) - fired at the dental college student when her father was taking her to her institute on a motorbike around 8.10am. The accused overtook them near Kadirabad bus stand, around 300m from their rented accommodation, and fired at them from point blank range. The girl suffered two bullet injuries while her father received injuries on his back. The two were rushed to DMCH. The assailants tried to flee after the attack but some residents caught hold of the two and thrashed them up before handing them over to the police. Darbhanga city superintendent of police (SP) Hari Kishore Singh said the condition of one of the two attackers, too, was critical following the attack on them.

"The police recovered two pistols, six live cartridges and the motorcycle belonging to the accused from the spot," he said, adding that the accused were staying in a rented house at Darbhanga for the past two months.

Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) A.K. Satyarthy said nine policemen and a civilian donated blood for the girl's surgery.

"Instructions have been issued to file a chargesheet at the earliest as the accused have already been arrested and the weapon used in the crime also seized," he told The Telegraph over phone.

The girl's mother is an employee of the same dental college while her father is associated with an insurance company.