Begusarai police on high alert after youth shot at

BEGUSARAI/PATNA: One Mohammad Quasim was shot at by a drunken man after ascertaining the victim’s identity in Begusarai district on Sunday.
A video related to the incident went viral on social media on Monday. The police, however, said the victim didn’t corroborate the allegation either in his complaint or statement before senior police officers.
Quasim, a resident of Khanjahanpur village under Cheriya Bariyarpur police station, was intercepted by one Ravi Yadav near Kumbhi village when he was returning home on his motorbike after his work.Quasim used to sell daily consumer items in remote villages to eke out a living for his family.
Ravi, who was drunk, first asked his name and then reportedly told him to go to Pakistan. “Before I could react, Ravi opened fire causing injury to me,” Quasim said, adding that he fled the spot before the assailant could fire at him again. He immediately informed the mukhiya, who asked him to report the incident to the police.
He lodged a complaint with the Cheria Bariyarpur police station against Ravi, who is absconding. The victim’s father, Aghnu Mia, however, said his son had no enmity with anyone in the village. “It’s police responsibility to book the assailant at the earliest,” he said.
Begusarai SP Awakash Kumar asked the residents not to be swayed by the content being circulated on social media. “The matter is under investigation. Police are already on their job. But what is being stated on social platform is not true,” he told this newspaper on Monday.
The Begusarai police also made an appeal to the residents on its Twitter account to maintain restrain. “The incident is related to an individual and it should be treated in the same manner. Law will take its own course,” he said.
The police didn't rule out the incident to be a fallout of differences over payment of dues. The accused is a resident of Kumbhi where the incident took place on Sunday evening. An FIR under Section 307 (attempt to murder) and other sections of IPC has been lodged against Ravi.
Quasim has been admitted to the Sadar hospital at Begusarai. Additional police forces have been deployed at the hospital as a precautionary measure to ward off any untoward incident. “We are keeping a close vigil on the development in Begusarai,” said a senior IPS officer posted at the police headquarters. The SP has been asked to arrest the culprit at the earliest.
The incident may snowball into a political controversy as Giriraj Singh of BJP has won the recently concluded Lok Sabha election from Begusarai with over 4.5 lakh votes. “Some people who are yet to overcome the shock due to humiliating defeat in the election will create such trouble in the region,” said a senior BJP leader.