Jharsuguda: Police arrested a 40-year-old man within 24 hours of him allegedly firing on a pregnant woman at Talipada in Sarbahal area on March 20 due to personal enmity, police said.Police identified the accused as Lokesh Kumar Padhan, a resident of Kilasama village under Sasan police limits in Sambalpur district.Police officers said the accused allegedly barged into the victim’s house in the evening and fired at her while she was resting. The woman, who is around four months’ pregnant, suffered a bullet injury.Hearing the gunshot, her husband rushed to the room, following which the accused fled after assaulting him and reportedly locked the door from outside to delay immediate assistance.The injured woman was initially shifted to the Jharsuguda district headquarters hospital, and later referred to VIMSAR, Burla. She is undergoing treatment at a private hospital.Police said a case was registered immediately and multiple teams were formed under the supervision of SDPO Uma Shankar Singh, as per the direction of Jharsuguda SP G R Raghavendra. Officers from Jharsuguda Town and Badmal police stations, along with other personnel, carried out coordinated raids using technical surveillance, local intelligence and cyber inputs.“We formed multiple teams and were successful in nabbing the accused. We have seized a country-made pistol with a magazine, nine rounds of live ammunition, a motorcycle used in the crime, a mobile phone, burnt clothes of the accused and an empty cartridge from the spot,” said SDPO Uma Shankar Singh.He added that preliminary probe revealed the attack was driven by personal enmity. “The accused suspected the involvement of the victim’s minor son in the death of his own son in an earlier case, which led him to carry out the attack,” he said.Investigation is on, police added.
