Raipur businessmen in panic after daylight killing

Unidentified gunmen struck in Raipur and killed a trader and injured his associate by opening fire in their office in a daring incident this afternoon.

The stunned traders have called for a bandh in the capital if the police fail to nab the assailants within 24 hours. Raipur District Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar said that two unidentified men reached the office of Amar Ahuja in the Pandri cloth market this afternoon around 11.30 am. Besides Amar, his associate Manish Luthriya was present in the office.

Ahuja was working as a private financier in the city. His office was located in the first floor of a garment shop owned by his brother. "The assailants walked into the office and shot at Amar and Manish from point blank range before walking out," Kumar said. Amar's brother heard the gun shot and rushed to the first floor. They were rushed to a nearby private hospital, where Amar succumbed to his injuries soon after admission. Sources said condition of Manish was critical.

The killing of the trader in a crowded market place stunned the businessmen. The cloth market that supply goods to Orissa, Jharkhand, Vidarbha and southern Madhya Pradesh market was closed while hundreds of traders and businessmen gathered outside the hospital.

Kumar said police had launched a massive manhunt to nab the culprits. Unconfirmed reports said that the accused had carried away huge amount of cash from the office. Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce backed by the opposition Congress has called for Raipur bandh on Saturday in protest against the incident.

"The law and order machinery has collapsed in the state and the businessmen and traders are in panic," Chamber President Sreechand Sunderani said. If the assailants were not nabbed within 24 hours, Chamber will call for a statewide bandh, he added.