Two armed men allegedly slashed the right arm of a 40-year-old salesperson of cellphone recharge vouchers, fired and robbed him of Rs 39,000 on Belghoria Expressway on Tuesday morning.

Sukumer Pal mentioned in his police complaint that he was attacked and robbed around 6.40am while he was on his way to Alambazar from his Dum Dum Cantonment home on a bicycle.

"Two men on a two-wheeler, their faces covered with helmets, accosted me near Dunlop. One of them took out a pistol and the other a knife and asked me to hand over a bag containing the money," Pal said.

When Pal refused, the duo allegedly tried to snatch the bag. "When I resisted one of them slashed my right arm, while the other fired. The bullet did not hit me. I got scared and gave them the bag. They fled towards Dakshineswar," Pal said.

Police later recovered an empty cartridge from the spot.

Soon after, Pal went to Baranagar police station. When officers took him to the spot, they realised it was under Belghoria police station.

"We have recorded Pal's statement and are probing the matter," said Neeraj Singh, the police commissioner of Barrackpore.

The salesperson said the amount he lost was his previous day's collection. "I was supposed to hand over the money to the owner of the Dunlop shop where I work."

Belghoria Expressway, the fastest link between the city's north-east to the other side of the Hooghly, has been an unsafe stretch for motorists. A 26-year-old employee of a software company was killed on Belghoria Expressway in July 2011. In February the same year, two men were found dead along the expressway.

Custody plea

Calcutta police have moved court to seek custody of alleged extortionist Dilip Banerjee, known as Haathkata Dilip, in connection with an arms case. The city police said the name of Dilip, now in the custody of Bidhannagar police, emerged during a probe in an arms case in Calcutta.

Calcutta police sources said Dilip might have given shelter to Gopal Tiwari, whose men had allegedly attacked cops after the CMC elections on April 18. Officers, however, denied the plea for Dilip's custody had anything to do with the case.