Title - Railway contractor escapes death second time

BOKARO: Unidentified persons hurled a country-made bomb at a prominent railway contractor at his residence under City police station late on Saturday.The contractor, Pappu Singh, proved second time lucky as he escaped death because the bomb did not explode. The attackers are demanding money from him. The CCTV cameras installed at Singh's residence captured the attackers and police is investigating the case.On February 6 some persons attempted firing at Singh but their pistol failed to work. Police then assessing the video footage indentified Tinku Pandey, as one of them, who was trying to fire from his pistol while standing at Singh's residence gate. However, police failed to arrest Pandey after the incident.Singh was receiving extortion calls from the past several months. Alert at the past incident and acting on Singh's complaint, the district police have deployed two policemen for his security. Of the two security men, only Dholak Mahto was present at his residence when the incident occurred on Saturday.

Narrating the incident, Singh said after returning home from Dhanbad he went for bathing. Later, he came out to hang the towel in the garden when suddenly he saw something fall near him. "I was shocked to see that it was a bomb. Then I shouted for my wife who came and rushed me inside the house. I was lucky that the bomb fell on wet soil and did not explode. Later, I raised an alarm following which police came and found the bomb," said Singh.

He said the persons who claim they are Amrender Tiwari and Amit Choudhary were demanding money since the day he got two contract worth Rs 2 crore from the railways. The duo used to threaten him with dire consequences and called from unknown mobile phone numbers.

Singh said soon after the past incident in February he received a call from Amit Choudary who threatened him saying that last time he had escaped, but next time he won't. "It is they who had thrown the bomb in my direction. But, police doesn't seem to be serious as they failed to arrest Pandey even after four months have passed since the first incident. My family and I are living in fear," said Singh.

DSP (city) Anil Shanker, who visited the spot to the assess the condition, said an FIR has been lodged in this connection. Police are trying to identify the attackers. "We are investigating the matter and going through CCTV footages," said Shanker.