In a shocking incident in Saharsa district, Tuntun Pandit, a 35-year-old man, finds himself fighting for his life after being shot while safeguarding his family’s land. The attack, allegedly carried out by two local villagers, has left him in critical condition with a bullet severely damaging his intestine. After being rushed to the hospital, Tuntun underwent emergency surgery.

Patna: A 35-year-old man was shot at over a land dispute in Banma Ithari police station area of Saharsa district late Monday night.Tuntun Pandit, a resident of Sarbela (ward no. 13), remains in a critical condition after undergoing an emergency surgery to remove the bullet.According to police, the incident occurred around 11.30pm, when Tuntun took dinner at home and went to sleep in a roadside hut made on a four-katha plot of family land, near his house. The land is used for farming and keeping cattle, and Tuntun often stayed there overnight to guard them.The victim’s father, Amar Pandit, said his son called the family in distress, saying that two villagers — Sanoj Sada and Manoj Sada — were trying to forcibly abduct him. When Tuntun resisted, one of them allegedly fired at him in his stomach. By the time family members rushed to the spot, they found him lying in a pool of blood. The family first took him to Simri Bakhtiyarpur sub-divisional hospital, from where he was referred to Saharsa Sadar Hospital. He was later admitted to a private hospital.Dr Vijay Shankar of the hospital confirmed that the patient arrived with a gunshot wound in the lower right side of the abdomen. “His condition was critical on arrival,” the doctor said. After a blood transfusion, surgery was performed on Tuesday. “The bullet damaged the intestine at two places and was lodged in the bone,” he added.Police from Banma Ithari station registered a case and launched an investigation. “Efforts are underway to arrest the two accused, Sanoj and Manoj, both residents of the same village. According to the complainant, the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute over a piece of land,” SHO Khusboo Kumar told this newspaper on Tuesday.