40-year-old trader shot near CJM’s bungalow in Katihar district

PATNA: Two bike-borne unidentified criminals shot dead a trader in front of Katihar chief judicial magistrate’s official bungalow in highly secure Officers’ Colony in the town on Tuesday night. The slain trader was identified as Pampam Jha, 40. He had his own private residence in the colony.
The SDPO and other senior government officlas also have their residences in the colony under Sahakay police outpost of the Town police station area.
The incident took place within two weeks of former Katihar mayor Shivraj Paswan’s murder near Santoshi Chowk in the town on July 29 night.
Sahayak police outpost in-charge Sanjay Kumar said Jha was returning home on his bike after closing his general store at Mirchaibari when two the criminals intercepted and shot him in the head twice at around 7pm. “Jha’s wife Khusbu Devi has accused his cousins from his native place at Gopalpur in Naugacchia, Bhagalpur, as they had a property dispute,” he said.
“Raids were carried out in Gopalpur but no one was arrested. Jha had also lodged an FIR against a few of his cousins over the same dispute with Gopalpur police station last year,” he said.
He said no empty cartridges were recovered from the spot.