Armed Confrontation at Garia Crossing: Real Estate Developer Pulls Gun Over Autorickshaw Ride Refusal

Tuesday morning, an autorickshaw driver at the major Garia crossing reportedly received a gun threat after declining to transport a guy to Sonarpur.

The man who pulled out the pistol, a real estate developer, and his driver were taken into custody immediately.

An homemade 7mm handgun was reportedly seized by the police. Both have been accused of violating different provisions of the Arms Act.

The firearm, according to the authorities, was loaded and had five live rounds.

At the Garia crossing, the guys arrived in a Tata Safari and parked it next to a police booth on Raja SC Mullick Road. The car's driver got out and went to hail an autorickshaw to transport him to Sonarpur.

The event occurred at around 5.30 am, a time when even on a winter morning, the neighborhood on Kolkata's southeast edge is very crowded.

Because he drives a separate route, the auto driver firmly refused to transport the inebriated guy. When the second guy, the car's owner, joined the driver, he insisted on being driven to Sonarpur. A number of autorickshaw drivers congregated and protested at that location. According to a police officer in the south suburban division of Kolkata, the vehicle owner then pulled a revolver out of his pocket and pointed it at the auto driver who was refusing to transport the Tata Safari driver.

After congregating at the location, the autorickshaw drivers sounded the alarm, informing the authorities. Not far from the scene, a patrol crew from the Patuli police station raced in and took the driver and owner of the Tata Safari into custody.

Chiranjit Karmakar was the driver and Dipayan Dutta, 40, the owner of the vehicle, according to the police.

They decided to halt halfway while Karmakar was taking Dutta to his house in Bansdroni. On the Garia-Baruipur road, Karmakar requested the autorickshaw to take him to Sonarpur, which is on a separate route.

There were locals who stated they had never seen someone so blatantly brandish a gun.

This is the neighborhood where I grew up. Such behavior on the highways here is unheard of. It's frightening. Guns are so easily accessible these days, according to a resident of Garia's Kanungo Park who works in IT.

Both accused were presented in court later that day, according to the police. Their detention has been remanded to the police.

"The manner in which this individual obtained the firearm is still unknown. "It's a gun made in this country," one officer said.