The trading community in Motihari is shaken and angry after a garment shop owner was shot at and looted of Rs 3 lakh before the criminals hurled bombs on a busy road on Sunday evening.

Ramashankar Prasad (62), the owner of Maa Tulya Matching Centre, was shot at around 8.15pm when the employees were about to close the store in the heart of town. The criminals also hurled at least six bombs while fleeing the spot on Main Road, hardly 50m from a police outpost.

Prasad was rushed to a private nursing home where he is out of danger. But the local businessmen, not so confident about security and safety in the town, held an emergency meeting with police and the administrative officials on Monday.

The residents said the attack followed minutes after a police patrol vehicle crossed the area. An eyewitness told the police: "The criminals must have had kept a close watch on the movement of the cops deployed on night patrol."

The police also quoted the witness as saying: "Five criminals, armed with pistols and knives, barged into the shop and asked the owner to hand over the cash in the till. They were in a hurry and the slightest of resistance provoked one of them to open fire. The shop owner was shot at in the abdomen."

As Prasad fell, the employees ran helter-skelter for safety. The criminals went ahead taking out the money before making their escape. Before some youngsters watching from a distance could intercept them, the criminals hurled bombs on the road. Six persons suffered splinter injuries in the explosion and were released after first aid at the local sadar hospital.

East Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Jitendra Rana, who was playing badminton at a police outpost, was the first to reach the spot. He had to face the wrath of the people demanding action against personnel on night patrol.

The SP later told reporters that six persons have been detained for interrogation in connection with the attack. "We have identified the gang and the criminals involved in the crime will be arrested soon," Rana told The Telegraph over phone on Monday. He admitted that the shop was targeted minutes after the police patrol vehicle passed through the locality.

"The trading community is feeling unsafe after the murderous attack on the cloth merchant," said Birendra Jalan, the president of the East Champaran unit of North Bihar Chamber of Commerce, on the sidelines of the meeting. "The incident has reminded people of the Lalu-Rabri era when businessmen were at the receiving end of criminals."

He demanded strict action against the criminals involved in the Sunday evening attack. "If the present situation continues for a few months, many businessmen who had returned to Motihari from Jharkhand after Nitish Kumar took the reins of the state in 2005 will be forced to migrate again."

SP Rana reviewed the law and order situation and said: "We have decided to intensify night patrolling. The residents will feel the difference in the next few days."