PACS chairman shot dead in Bihar, angry villagers clash with police

On Tuesday morning four criminals on two motorcycles, barged into a shop and shot Matiyariya panchayat PACS president Pawan Gupta from a close range, killing him at the spot. The villagers nabbed one of the attackers and thrashed him.

A Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) chairman Pawan Gupta, who was likely to contest panchayat elections, was gunned down in Bihar’s East Champaran district on Tuesday, triggering a clash between villagers and police, when they tried to take one of the assailant’s custody from the villagers. The clash resulted in injuries to 11 persons, including policemen and a couple of senior officials. More than 50 villagers have been arrested for the clash along with the man accused of hiring contract killers to eliminate Gupta.

Arms licences of 428 persons have been cancelled ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar. (Shutterstock Image)

“More than 100 people have been identified, while 54 have already been arrested for their involvement in the clash,” said Navin Chand Jha, superintendent of police (SP), East Champaran, on Wednesday.

Sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Areraj, Jyoti Prakash, and sub divisional magistrate (SDM), Sanjeev Kumar, were among the injured in the clash.

On Tuesday morning four criminals on two motorcycles, barged into a shop and shot Matiyariya panchayat PACS president Pawan Gupta from a close range, killing him at the spot, said police. PACS are the grass root level arms of the short-term co-operative credit structure.

“The local gave a hot chase and caught hold of one of the assailants, while three others managed to escape on a motorcycle,” Shiv Kumar, a local resident quoted eye-witnesses as saying.

As the news of the murder spread, a large number of villagers gathered near the Bazaar area, set the motorcycle used in crime on fire and thrashed the captured criminal, identified as Anil Sahni. “They were unwilling to hand the criminal to the police when we reached and tried to rescue him. When we tried to claim his custody, a crowd gathered there and attacked the police team,” said Jyoti Prakash, sub divisional police officer (SDPO), Areraj, who suffered leg injuries.

At around 1pm, Matiyariya Bazaar area suddenly resembled a war zone as the protestors fought pitched battle and hurled stones, seriously injuring four police personnel. Normalcy returned only after reinforcements from Areraj, Govindpur and Sagsuli police stations reached the spot and fired several rounds in the air.

Victim Pawan Gupta was seen as a contestant for the post of village headman against incumbent mukhiya Surendra Singh for Matiyariya panchayat this year, locals said.

SDPO Jyoti Prakash confirmed the arrest of Matiyariya panchayat head Surendra Singh for allegedly hiring contract killers to eliminate Pawan Gupta.

“In the course of preliminary investigation, the arrested criminal Anil Sahni accepted to have received a contract from Surendra Singh,” said the sub divisional police officer.

The condition of Sahni, who was badly thrashed by the crowd, is stated to be serious, while injured police personnel are undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Areraj.