Shopkeeper beaten to death over uprooting plant in Bihar’s Rohtas; two arrested

The 45-year-old deceased, Virendra Singh, used to run a clothing store and also did farming in Bihar’s Jagodih village

Sasaram: Two people were arrested on Friday morning for allegedly beating a 45-year-old clothing store owner to death after he uprooted a bitter gourd plant from government land while trimming grass in Jagodih village, police said.

The body was sent to Sadar Hospital in Sasaram for postmortem. (Representational Photo)

The deceased, Virendra Singh, used to run a clothing store and also did farming in his village. “His relative had planted a bitter gourd and a jackfruit plant on the empty government land along national highway 2 in Bihar. The deceased had accidentally uprooted the plants while cutting the grass on the government land to make dry cow dung cakes,” a police officer said.

Arjun Singh and Alok Mehta accused the deceased of deliberately uprooting the plants and attacked him with sticks. “The attackers went away threatening him after he fainted. His family informed the police and took Singh to a local community health centre, where the doctors declared him dead on arrival,” the officer said.

“A police team under Amjhor station house officer (SHO) Shyam Kumar went to the spot and arrested both the attackers. The body was sent to Sadar Hospital in Sasaram for postmortem,” Rohtas superintendent of police (SP) Raushan Kumar said.

Kumar said a murder case will be registered soon. “Further action will be taken after registering a murder case on the application given by the family, as soon as they return after the cremation,” he added.

This is the second murder within 24 hours. President of Janata Dal (United)’s youth wing in Tilouthu block, Rakesh Kumar’s father, Parasnath Singh (55), was killed in Amra village on Thursday.