Bokaro, Feb. 13: A Class XI student of DAV High School was injured when a gang of criminals, hunting for a local contractor, fired indiscriminately in the Sector III area of the city this afternoon.
Seventeen-year-old Sumit Kumar, the son of a senior Bokaro steel plant official, was returning from school with six of his friends around 2.30pm when a black Scorpio (JH-09-H 7483) screeched to a halt a few yards away.
Four men — two of them later identified as extortionist Vinod Khopri and his aide Veer Singh — jumped off the vehicle and started enquiring about a Jamshedpur-based contractor, Ashok Singh.
Armed with pistols, Khopri’s gang caught hold of four men, believed to be close associates of Singh, and threatened to kill them if they did not disclose where the contractor was.
Two of the hostages — Bhola and Babloo — managed to loosen grip and escape. As they ran for their lives, the goons pulled the trigger. Eyewitnesses said they fired at least six rounds. Caught in the firing, the crowd that had gathered at the scene scurried for cover.
Sumit and his friends also tried to flee, but a stray bullet hit the teen on his left leg. He collapsed. Others rushed him to Bokaro general hospital. Sumit is said to be out of danger.
Sources said the gang had been looking for Singh, staying in rented quarters at Sector III, ever since he bagged a more than Rs 20 crore supply order from multinational firm Larsen & Toubro in connection with the modernisation and expansion of the Bokaro steel plant.
Khopri and Veer have several cases of extortion pending against them and sources claimed they were after Singh for money. It is also learnt that the gang, after firing, chased and captured Bhola and Babloo though the police have refused to confirm the abduction. The black Scorpio was last seen speeding towards the outskirts of the city.
Talking to The Telegraph, Bokaro deputy superintendent of police Sandhya Rani Mehta confirmed the involvement of Khopri’s gang in the firing that left the DAV student injured. “We are investigating the case. The guilty will be punished,” he said.
