Bhubaneswar, July 22: City police are looking for the accused in last night’s firing in front of a bar-cum-restaurant beside Cuttack-Puri Road at Laxmi Sagar here.

Two teams of a special squad and Laxmi Sagar police are conducting raids on various places both in the city and at other places in the state to arrest the culprits.

Laxmi Sagar police had initially detained two persons in connection with the firing incident, but let them go today after questioning. The police also seized a used bullet from the spot.

Owner of the bar-cum-restaurant Satya Mishra said two of their customers were going out around midnight when they heard the gunshots outside the restaurant. “They rushed inside out of fear and narrated us about the firing outside. We informed the police immediately,” said Mishra, adding that these two customers were among a group of 15 people who had come to the bar last night.

An officer of Laxmi Sagar police station said they had got a call around 12 at night about a firing near the bar-cum-restaurant. On reaching the spot, the police found a four-wheeler parked on the opposite side of the road.

“We seized the vehicle and took two youths, who were inside the vehicle, for questioning,” said a police officer.

Sources said around 15 people had come to the bar last night. After they finished their dinner, some had gone out of the restaurant in batches while two stayed inside to pay the bill.

“They had a bill of around Rs 21,000 and there was a minor scuffle among them as to who would pay the bill. We expect this might have caused the shootout outside the restaurant,” said a staff member of the restaurant.

Inspector in charge of Laxmi Sagar police station Abani K. Mohanty said that after they could find nothing on questioning the two detained youths.

“We let them go. We suspect that some goons might have fired in the blank in front of the restaurant to scare people. We have launched a manhunt to arrest the culprits,” said Mohanty.

Sources in the police station said they suspected it to be the act of some goons from Cuttack.

Last night’s firing has caused a headache for the city police as they have not yet been able to arrest the accused involved in the June 23 shootout near Keshari cinema hall within the limits of Kharavela Nagar police station. A 22-year-old student sustained injuries in that firing. The goons had also stolen the motorcycle of the victim.