Firing suspect shot in leg, arrested

Patna: An accused in a firing incident involving a businessman was shot in the leg during an encounter in the Maner police station area of Patna district late Thursday night. The accused, identified as Nitish Kumar, was taken into custody before being sent to PMCH for treatment. Nitish had been absconding in connection with a case in which a businessman was shot about a week ago during an attempted robbery, police said.

According to officials, Maner police and the Special Task Force (STF) received information about Nitish's presence in Ratan Tola. The team reached the spot and cordoned off the area. As soon as Nitish saw the STF, he started firing. Police returned fire, hitting Nitish in the left leg, after which he fell and was arrested.


On January 9, Nitish and two associates had planned a robbery. Sanjay Soni, a resident of Rasulpur village in Maner, owns a jewellery shop. Around 7 pm, he was returning home on his bike when Nitish and his associates stopped him at gunpoint. The accused attempted to loot him, but Sanjay resisted, prompting Nitish to fire a shot that hit Sanjay’s shoulder. The robbery failed. CCTV footage captured the incident.

City SP (West) Bhanu Pratap Singh said, “From the CCTV footage of the shooting during the robbery attempt on January 9, police identified Nitish. After being identified, he repeatedly changed hideouts. Meanwhile, we received his location in Ratan Tola. Police reached the spot and confronted Nitish, which led to firing from both sides.”

The officer added that, apart from the country-made pistol used during the shooting, police recovered one pistol and two cartridges from him. This was the second encounter for Patna Police and STF in Jan.