3 killed in separate incidents, 2 over 2 inches of land in Patna: Cops

A man fired indiscriminately over a land dispute reportedly over ‘two inches of land’ in which his aunt, cousin and a passerby received bullet injuries. The aunt and passerby succumb ed to their injuries.

Three persons, including two women, were shot dead while a youth was injured in separate incidents at Patna and Vaishali, police said on Friday. Two people allegedly died in a dispute over merely two inches of land.

In one incident, a man opened fired indiscriminately, killing his aunt and a passerby over a land dispute. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In one incident that occurred at Rasulpur village under Fatuha police station at around 7.30am, a man fired indiscriminately over a land dispute reportedly over “two inches of land” in which his aunt, cousin and a passerby received bullet injuries. The woman identified as Rajmantri Devi and passerby identified as Deo Sagar Singh died while Rajmantri’s son was undergoing treatment in the Patna Medical College Hospital.

The police said that the woman died on the spot while Deo Sagar succumbed to his injury on the way to the PMCH.

On getting information about the incident, the rural SP, Fatuha SDPO and FSL team reached the spot and investigated the entire incident. The police said that the preliminary investigation suggested there was a dispute between two brothers over only two inches of land. The dispute between siblings Shravan Prasad and Rajkumar Prasad has been going on for a long time.

“On Friday, an argument broke out between the two brothers. Rajkumar’s son Shivam Kumar came to the spot with a gun and threatened to kill and suddenly fired indiscriminately from point blank range. A bullet hit Rajmantri Devi who died on the spot while her son Rajan Kumar (22) and a passerby received bullet injuries. Both injured were rushed to the hospital from where they were referred to the PMCH. Devsagar died on the way to PMCH.” a police official said.

Jitendra Kumar, the son of the deceased and also an eyewitness of the incident, said that there was a dispute between his father Shravan Prasad and uncle Rajkumar Prasad over “two inches of land”. In the morning, when the two were discussing the dispute and it turned into an argument, his cousin Shivam Kumar reached there with a gun and then opened fire that killed his mother, said Kumar.

Rural SP Kundan Kumar said that two country-made pistols, sword and a bike have been recovered from the house of the absconding accused. A team has been formed under the leadership of DSP-1 Awadhesh Kumar. The FSL team has also taken samples from the spot. The police are currently conducting raids to nab the accused. Additional police forces have also been deployed in Rasulpur amid heightened tensions in the area. Police said they were examining documents related to the land dispute and previous complaints between the families as part of the investigation.

In another incident, reports from Vaishali said that 25-year-old Guriya Devi died under mysterious circumstances when her bullet riddled body was found outside her house located at Chauhatta locality of Town police station area late on Thursday night. Her husband Arjun Paswan claimed that she was shot dead by his neighbour over a land dispute. However, Vaishali SP Vikram Sihag told HT that the case is suspected and police investigate the matter from all possible angles.

“Police received information at around 12.30 that a married woman had been admitted to a government hospital with a gunshot injury. A team immediately reached the hospital and found that the woman had already been declared dead. Her husband told police that she was shot at by his neighbour outside their house at around 11.30pm,” said an official. After his allegation, a police team raided his neighbour’s house, police found that all the suspects had been found sleeping in their residence. Investigators and forensic experts have collected evidence from the spot. Vaishali SP said, victim’s husband was giving conflicting statements about the sequence of events. Investigation is underway. Arjun is said to be a private driver of a judicial officer while his sister-in-law is a political activist.