Banka barber refuses hair cut to youths, killed

PATNA: A 42-year barber from a Banka village had to pay with his life for refusing to accompany some local youths during lockdown to give them a hair cut and shave. Dinesh Thakur had only last month returned from Mumbai while his son is still stuck there.
Thakur had been making do with odd jobs here and there in the village since returning from Mumbai. But when on Saturday two of the accused came to ask the barber to accompany them to another village, he refused as he did not want to travel on road due to the lockdown.The two youths, who are in their early 20s, returned in a huff after threatening and abusing him.
The youths returned in a large group on Saturday evening around 7 pm and took him to a secluded spot near a pond where they shot him. The incident came to light on Sunday morning when local residents spotted the barber’s body and called the police.
The SHO of Amarpur police station, Kumar Sunny, said, “Nine people have been named as accused in the FIR lodged by the deceased’s wife Muso Devi, who alleged that her husband was killed for his refusal to give the youths hair cut and shave them. Three of the accused, Bipin Das, Sujesh Das and Jitendra Das, have been arrested and raids were on to nab the remaining accused.”
He added, “The killing of the barber led to tension among the residents of the two neighbouring villages.” The mukhiya of Maimna village, Munni Devi, had to face the ire of the residents of the deceased’s Navtolia village when she called on his family to console them. She had to take shelter in a house till she was rescued by the police.
Banka DSP (headquarters) D C Srivastava said, “Thakur had returned to his native village from Mumbai, where he had moved four years ago, following the nationwide lockdown. His elder son Binod Thakur is still stranded in Mumbai.”
The police have so far failed to recover the illegal weapon used in the crime.