BHUBANESWAR : City crime reached a new high on Friday when a female employee of a BSNL call centre was shot at by unidentified miscreants in Mancheswar Industrial Estate here. The girl took two bullets in her left calf. While one bullet remained lodged, the other pierced through. She was rushed to Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital where she underwent surgery. Her condition was stable. Namita Rani Padhi, the girl, is working for a private BPO firm which the BSNL had outsourced for its call centre operations. She had come out of her office when two bike-borne youths, apparently lurking outside, opened fire on her and sped away. Locals alerted the Mancheswar Police. One youth, who had acquaintance with the girl, has been detained in this connection. Police suspect romantic relations could be behind the shooting incident which was a first in the City. Investigation has revealed that Namita’s shift was not over when she came out of the office which meant she may have received a call from someone to step outside. “We are trying to ascertain the motive behind the shooting,” Bhubaneswar DCP Nitinjit Singh said. However, sources said the firing could have a link with a similar incident that had taken place in Sashtri Nagar area of the City on April 9 last year. Sanjay Mishra, salesman of a drug store, was shot at by one of the two bike-borne miscreants that day. Sanjay, who worked for Subhadra Drug Store, was standing in front of the outlet when the accused pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger. Both fled the scene soon after. Later, police arrested the assailant and found out that he had a crush on Sanjay’s wife before her marriage. Curiously, Namita is the younger sister of Sanjay’s wife. Police are also investigating if the current incident was a fallout of the last one. Namita, a native of Keonjhar’s Anandpur, was staying in a mess in Cuttack. A case has been lodged in Mancheswar Police Station.
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