Armed Assailants fired shots at maize merchant Kanayyalal Agarwal , owner of Farm India Implix Private Limited, which has its office at Raheja Arcade in Koramangala in broad daylight on the afternoon of Saturday June 2.

Kanayyalal, who is a wholesale merchant of maize, was attacked by gun-wielding killers from Bihar , while he was in his office. The attackers fired three shots at him. One of these bullets injured the lower part of his head.

Kanayyalal, who is a native of Uttar Pradesh has been residing in Bengaluru for the last 25 years and is doing the wholesale business of buying grains including maize etc from farmers of different states and selling the same. He has two children and they are also involved in the business.

At around 2 pm on the afternoon of Saturday, June 2, three strangers including the one wearing a helmet entered the office of Kanayyalal. They were obstructed and questioned by the two sons of Kanayyalal. The strangers said that they had come in search of a job and would like to speak to the owner. Though the sons told the strangers that there was no vacancy, the strangers refused to leave the office. When this argument was in progress, one of the assailants took out his pistol and shot at Kanayyalal, who was sitting in the glass cabin at a distance of 15 feet.

Rishi Agarwal, younger son of Kanayyalal rushed to the rescue of his father and asked him to hide below the table. In the meantime, another assailant fired two rounds, out of which, one bullet pierced the table and brushed Kanayyalal’s head. The assailants escaped from the scene immediately. Kanayyalal, who was profusely bleeding, was admitted to St John’s Medical College hospital by the staff of the office.

Chirag Agarwal, the elder son of Kanayyalal, giving the details of the likely motive behind the attack said, “Our company started procuring maize from Hasanpur of Bihar nearly a one-and-a-half years ago. Two months ago, two agriculture produce agents by the names Vibuthi Kumar Singh and Sanchi Kumar Singh had met my father and threatened him to stop doing business in their native place as it was causing losses in business to them.

“Kanayyalal got several calls on Saturday also. However, he did not receive them. Assailants came to know that our father comes to the office at 2 pm. When our father arrived at the office, as usual, the assailants entered the office and fired at our father. All three of them were masked and only one among them wore a helmet. The agents from Hasanpur, Bihar, who had threatened our father with regard to the maize business might be behind this attack,” said Kanayyalal’s sons in their statement to the police.

An HR officer of a company, which has its office opposite to the office of Kanayyalal was conducting an interview. He said, “When I was conducting the interview with one of the applicants, I heard gunshots. When I came out to find the source of the sound, I saw the victim being taken to the hospital.”

A senior police officer said, “Kanayyalal is residing in Bengaluru for the past 25 years with his family and has opened this company many years ago. However, there are no CCTV cameras in the office. The movement of the miscreants is recorded in the CCTV which is installed in the business complex. Once Kanayyalal recovers, more information will be gathered.”

“It is learnt that business rivalry was the reason behind this attack. We have information with regard to the assailants and they will be arrested shortly,” said Boralingaiah, DCP, southeast, Bengaluru.