Protests erupt over trader murder

Patna: A hardware trader was shot dead in Begusarai’s Teghra police station area on Friday within 24 hours of director-general of police K.S. Dwivedi chairing a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation in the region.

A gang of armed criminals barged into the shop of Raj Kumar Gupta alias Soni at Teghra Bazaar around 8pm on Friday and pumped two bullets into his body. Raj Kumar succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital.

At the law and order review meeting barely 24 hours earlier, DGP Dwivedi had asked police officers to initiate steps to check organised crime. Dwivedi, however, had attributed the reason for recent murders in Bihar to land dispute.

He had directed the station house officers (SHOs) to hold meetings with circle officers at least once a week to dispose of the complaints related to property disputes.

On Saturday, the traders of Teghra Bazaar observed a bandh to protest the killing of Soni, also called Sonu Kumar. The protesters blocked roads and disrupted traffic since morning, demanding immediate arrest of the assailants.

Teghra sub-divisional police officer Ashish Anand said the gang involved in the trader’s murder had already been identified and raids were on to nab the assailants. “The police will crack the case soon,” he told The Telegraph over phone on Saturday.

A police source said the deceased trader had got a phone call from a criminal lodged in Begusarai district jail.

The caller had asked the trader to provide his relative a submersible pump used for irrigational purposes free of cost. Soni refused to follow his diktat, which allegedly led to his murder.

This is the second incident of murder within a month in the sub-divisional town. On May 17 this year, a Congress leader, Loha Singh alias Loha Mahto, was killed and his wife was injured. Prior to the incident, a jeweller, identified as Gopal Sah, was shot at and critically injured.

A day earlier, Munger police had found the body of businessman Suresh Singh alias Sudo Singh from an area falling under the jurisdiction of Dharhara police station.

Courtesy: The Telegraph