The Kharagpur shooting was an accidental firing inside a house and not a gang attack, West Midnapore Superintendent of Police Papia Sultana said, as police arrested three youths and seized an unlicensed 9mm pistol and ammunition in connection with the incident.
The 16-year-old injured boy, identified as Akshay Kumar Jha, was brought to Kharagpur Railway Hospital with a bullet injury. According to Sultana, the shooting took place inside a house in Kharagpur, around 130 km southwest of Kolkata, after Akshay picked up the firearm while handling it out of curiosity. Two rounds were fired, one of which struck him.
Police arrested Sagar Kumar, 23, Kola Jogeshwar Rao alias Chintu, 23, and Bishal Jana, aged around 22 to 23. The three were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in Midnapore, where police sought their custody for further investigation. Another person is being traced, the SP said.
The incident initially came to police attention after Sagar took Akshay to the hospital. Sagar had reportedly told police that he and the injured boy had been attacked while travelling by motorcycle to get food in Ward 20. Police registered a case under the Arms Act and formed five teams to investigate the alleged roadside attack.
The account came under scrutiny after investigators examined CCTV footage, questioned people in the area and reviewed phone calls made around the time of the incident. Police found inconsistencies in the initial version and questioned people with whom Sagar had spoken, Sultana said. The subsequent investigation indicated that the firearm had been kept at a house belonging to Prasad, a deceased member of the Sinu Naidu gang.
According to the police account, the weapon remained at the house after Prasad’s death. Sagar was allegedly examining it before going to the washroom, during which time Akshay picked it up and fired it. Police later seized the firearm and three rounds of ammunition. The weapon was not licensed, and blood-stained clothes recovered from the house were sent for forensic examination.
Sultana said the investigation had found no evidence of a gang attack. She said Sagar panicked after the shooting and contacted friends, who then contacted others before the injured boy was taken to hospital. The arrests and seizure have nevertheless prompted a wider police operation against illegal firearms and gang-linked criminal activity in Kharagpur.
The police will search houses associated with various gangs, including groups linked to Sinu Naidu and Ram Babu, and seize illegal firearms, the SP said. Warning gang members against a return to open firearm confrontations, Sultana said, “Either they will remain here, or they will remain in jail.” She also appealed to residents to share information about illegal arms and criminal activity, assuring them that informants’ identities would be kept confidential.
