Man shot over land dispute in Gopalganj, daughter hurt

PATNA: A 72-year-old man was killed and his daughter seriously injured when two motorcycle-borne criminals fired at them at Rajpur Bazar under the Gopalpur police station area in Gopalganj district on Saturday.
The injured, Saroj Devi (40), was admitted to the sadar hospital at Gopalganj where her condition is stated to be critical. The deceased was identified as Badri Thakur, a retired employee of the education department.
The incident took place around 10am when Thakur was walking on the road outside his shop dealing in computer parts.Two youths riding a motorcycle reached the spot and pumped two bullets into him.
Saroj was also attacked when she came to the rescue of her father. She received bullet injuries on her thigh and abdomen. The assailants, however, managed to escape after the incident.
Gopalganj SDPO Naresh Paswan said prima facie the incident appeared to be a fallout of land dispute. “Thakur had purchased a plot of land from a man having shady background,” he added.
Thakur’s relative Jitendra Thakur said the former was about to leave for his village along with his daughter when the incident occurred.
The SDPO said raids were on to arrest the culprits. The locals have, meanwhile, expressed concern over deteriorating law and order in the district.
Earlier, two people were killed by a group of criminals at Rajapur Bazar. The locals have threatened to launch an agitation if the police failed to contain crime in the district.