india

Updated: Sep 11, 2019 19:28 IST

A six-year-old boy sustained two bullet injuries in the front upper body on Tuesday night when a Muharram procession was passing by his home at Sahapur in the Ratua area of Bengal’s Malda district.

Abdul Rajjak, the injured minor, is undergoing treatment at a private nursing home in Malda town while officers at Ratua police station have started a probe. It is suspected that someone in the crowd opened fire injuring the boy. The weapon was probably an improvised one, said one of the doctors, on condition of anonymity.

Sheikh Afsar, the boy’s father, said, “My son was among the onlookers. Suddenly some people in the procession started firing. My son was hit.”

Locals told the police that the sound of the gunshots couldn’t be heard in the loud music. The boy was first rushed to a government hospital then shifted to the nursing home after his condition deteriorated.

Police has been deployed at Sahapur while investigation in the shooting has begun, confirmed Malda district police superintendent Alok Rajoria.

In another incident, a video of a youth yielding a pistol-like weapon in a Muharram procession, triggered tension at Kaliachak in Malda district. The police, however, said it was “a toy gun”.

Kaliachak police station area in Malda district is infamous for criminal activities. It is alleged that the video was shot within 100 meters of Kaliachak High School.