BHUBANESWAR: It was a swift operation by gunmen. Jagabandhu Majhi (39), confined to wheelchair, was distributing land ‘pattas’ to the locals at Gona village, 18 km Raighar block headquarters, when the tragedy struck. A man of immense clout in the region, he apparently did not even inform the local tehsildar about the programme. The local police station was, however, in the know of the local legislator’s programme and three constables were deployed at the camp. Between 12.30 pm and 1 pm when the camp was in full swing, three youths - none was masked - arrived on a black ‘Pulsar’ at the camp site without raising any suspicion among the villagers. One stood near the bike, the second one mixed with the people and the third walked into the gathering to the place where Majhi was seated with his PSO Pintu Patro escorting him. Even Patro had no clue what was going to happen next. The gunman walked behind the PSO and shot him in the eye using, what police said, a .9 mm pistol. The bullet pierced through the head and Patro dropped dead. As the firing led to commotion, the killer closed in on Majhi and shot him near the ear from point-blank range. He then picked up Patro’s .9 mm pistol and pulled the trigger on the PSO and the MLA for second time. Done with the operation, he and his two associates mounted the bike and sped away. By the time, the Umerkote MLA’s driver could reach Raighar hospital with Majhi things were too late.
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