Trader shot dead near Bihta

PATNA: One Pankaj Sharma (46) was shot dead at Neori Bramhsthan under the Neora outpost of Bihta police station area in Patna on Tuesday morning. Pankaj was killed around 7.15am soon after he reached his shop of building construction materials.
“Sharma was accused in two cases of extortion and scuffle lodged two months back with the Bihta police station,” Neora outpost in charge Prashant Kumar said.Two empty cartridges were recovered from the spot.
Kumar said the slain trader’s mother has accused Laxman Singh, Ramji Singh and Loha Singh of killing her son over a land dispute for the last one year. No one was arrested in the case.
Sharma’s killing was the third murder in western Patna since Sunday night. One Arun Kumar (45) was shot dead near Gadikhana under the Khagaul police station area around 6pm on Monday.
Khagaul SHO Sanjay Kumar said Arun was a key witness in RLSP leader Manoj Mahto’s murder case. Mahto was shot dead near Chargharwa near Gadikhana on April 9 this year. The SHO said Arun was Mahto’s cashier and was with him when he was shot dead by unidentified bike-borne criminals.
He said Arun’s elder brother Vijendra Kumar lodged an FIR against unknown persons, but police suspect his killing was related to Mahto’s murder.
Meanwhile, police arrested Sanjay Besra (22) on Monday night for allegedly beheading a daily wager Sunil Kumar Marandi (25) with a spade inside a shop on Gola Road under the Danapur police station area on Sunday night. It was known on Monday morning when shopowner Ranjeet Kumar reached the spot but no one opened the shop from inside.
Danapur SHO Sandeep Kumar said Besra had confessed to his crime, but claimed he was under the influence of some supernatural power. “Police suspect Besra either had illicit relation with someone in Marandi’s family which lived in a building under construction in the locality. Perhaps, Marandi had opposed it,” SHO said.
He said police were searching for one Pappu Hansda (20), who was also there but fled later. Kumar said Besra had stabbed himself with a kitchen knife inside the shop and was admitted to PMCH.
Marandi was from Ghoghikorasi under the Piri Bazar police station area in Lakhisarai district while the other two are from Shyampur under the Haveli Kharagpur police station area in Munger.