Former mukhiya shot in Gopalganj

PATNA: A day after the murder of Siwan gangster Vishal Singh’s close aide Raj Kumar Sharma near Hathua railway station under the Mirganj police station area in Gopalganj district, Arun Kumar Singh, a former mukhiya, was shot dead by two criminals at an automobile workshop under the same police station on Sunday.
Police said two assailants riding a motorbike reached the workshop at Jigna under Mirganj police station and pumped two bullets into Arun’s body, causing grievous injuries to him.Arun, the former mukhiya of Matihani Nain panchayat, was rushed to the Hathua sub-divisional hospital from where he was referred to the sadar hospital at Gopalganj.
Arun, however, succumbed to his injuries during treatment at the Gopalganj sadar hospital. Police said Arun was earlier arrested in connection with the murder of JD(U) district general secretary Upendra Singh last year.
The supporters of the former mukhiya created a scene outside the sadar hospital and raised anti-police slogans.
Gopalganj SP Manoj Kumar Tiwari said it was being probed whether the former mukhiya was killed over rivalry between the gangs of former Siwan MP Md Shahabuddin and his arch rival Vishal Singh.
An investigating officer said Arun had gone to workshop for personal work. “The incident has been captured in the CCTV camera installed at the workshop,” he said, adding efforts were on to identity the shooters.
The SP said a special investigation team has been set up under the leadership of Hathua SDPO to crack the case at the earliest. “We have taken the two murders as a challenge. The culprits will be brought to book soon,” he said.
On Saturday, Raj Kumar Sharma, a resident of Rampur village under the Mufassil police station area in Siwan district, was gunned down by unidentified criminals at a railway rake point near Hathua station. The criminals had pumped four bullets into Sharma’s body, killing him on the spot.
Meanwhile, the two murders within 24 hours have created panic in the area.