6 of family shot in Lakhisarai, brother duo die
“The assailant, Ashish Chaudhary, married Durga Jha five years ago. Subsequently, he began to suspect his wife of having an extramarital affair, which led to quarrels between them. Thereafter, Durga separated, but he wanted her to live with him. Durga’s parents, however, did not agree. Ten days ago, both families had a fight too,” the SP said.
Two brothers were killed and four others of their family grievously injured in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district on Monday morning after they were shot by a 25-year-old man whose marriage with a girl of the family had fallen apart, police said.
The two brothers were declared dead at the local hospital while three others have been referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in critical condition. One is undergoing treatment at the sadar hospital.
The incident took place at Punjabi Mohalla when the family members were returning home after performing Chhath Puja.
“The assailant, Ashish Chaudhary, married Durga Jha five years ago. Subsequently, he began to suspect his wife of having an extramarital affair, which led to quarrels between them. Thereafter, Durga separated, but he wanted her to live with him. Durga’s parents, however, did not agree. Ten days ago, both families had a fight too,” Lakhisarai superintendent of police (SP) Pankaj Kumar said, adding that a manhunt has been launched to nab the killer who is at large.
“Police recovered a 10-page note from Ashish’s residence that has the details of matter. Four of his friends have been detained for questioning,” the SP said.
Those who died were identified as Chandan Kumar Jha and his brother Raj Nandan Kumar. The injured have been identified as Preeti Devi, Lavli Devi, Durga Jha and her father Shashi Bhushan Jha.
Police said they have recovered a pistol from the spot, which is said to be used in the crime.
The SP said the accused belonged to scheduled caste and had no criminal history.
Reacting to the incident, leader of the opposition in assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who is MLA from Lakhisarai, said the death toll had risen to four as per his information. “Law and order has collapsed in the state. If this is happening on the day of Chhath and so easily, one can well imagine the freedom anti-socials enjoy. An attempt is being made to divert a serious crime as love affair to save the culprits,” he said.
LJP (Ramvilas) chief Chirag Paswan said that the incident pointed to the growing lawlessness in the state. “What more is left to prove the sheer lawlessness in the state? This is unfortunate that the government wants to turn a blind eye to such repeated incidents,” he said.
Meanwhile, in another incident, three persons received bullet injuries at Amritpur Belka village in Vaishali district on Sunday evening, police said. All three have been taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital.
Town police station house officer Chandra Gupta Kumar said that after performing evening Chhath prayers, a family reached their home when their neighbour started a verbal duel with them over firecracker bursting and fired at them.
