Former MP Arun Kumar (centre) gives a written complaint to Jehanabad SP Chandrika Prasad. Picture by Veerbhadra

Patna, June 3: Former MP and JD(U) leader Arun Kumar had a providential escape this morning when a group of suspected Maoists opened fire at his vehicle near Barheta bridge under Parasbigha police station in the Naxalite-hit Jehanabad district. His driver steered him away to safety.

The incident occurred around 3.10am, when Arun was returning to his Jehanabad residence after attending a wedding ceremony at Hasanpur.

The armed persons, suspected to be Maoists, had blocked the national highway near the bridge with boulders. “The driver stopped the vehicle after spotting the boulders on the road and motorcycle parked nearby. By the time he could react to the situation, guns started raining bullets,” Arun said, adding that his bodyguard Raj Kumar Singh fired in self-defence.

The driver of the former MP managed to steer clear from the spot of attack, reached Junathi police picket and informed the cops posted there about the incident. When the police team rushed to the spot, they found a man held captive by the armed men.

Though the captive, said to be resident of Hardiya village under Mohania police station, was rescued, the criminals managed to give police the slip.

On getting information, the deputy superintendent of police and the superintendent of police reached the spot and issued necessary directions to the local police.

“The incident occurred when I was returning to Jehanabad after attending the wedding ceremony of a kin of a local journalist Devendra Sharma at Hasanpura village,” Arun told The Telegraph over phone from Jehanabad.

He said a complaint has been lodged in connection with the incident. The former MP said a youth was killed and his belongings were snatched at the same place where the incident occurred.

“It is a matter of concern that the incidents of road hold-ups have increased in the recent past,” he said.

Jehanabad superintendent of police Chandrika Prasad said raids were on to arrest the culprits.

“It is being ascertained whether it was the handiwork of the Maoists or the members of a criminal gang,” he added.

The former MP said his Scorpio was partially damaged in the incident.

“A stray bullet hit the vehicle and pierced through it,” he said, adding that the area was Maoist-hit and the rebels’ involvement in the attack could not be ruled out.

Arun had earlier survived the attack when some criminals tried to intercept his vehicle on the Patna-Gaya road about six-seven years ago. He was then the sitting MP of Jehanabad, a close relative of the JD(U) leader said.

Probe revealed that a gang of criminals tried to intercept the vehicle of the former MP in an attempt to rob him of his belongings. “They (criminals) fled the spot when they came to know that the policemen were travelling in the vehicle,” a police officer posted at Parasbigha police station said.

The SP said the former MP’s security guard fired two rounds in the air to keep the robbers at bay.

“They (criminals) escaped under the cover of darkness,” he said, adding that patrolling had been intensified on the national highway.