Two contract killers arrested from Ranchi in Samastipur shooting case: Police

The shooting reportedly took place at the behest of former Mukhia and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) block president Ram Babu Rai and his associates

The Bihar police late on Friday arrested two sharp shooters from Ranchi in Jharkhand who shot at two undertrial prisoners, including a liquor mafia, inside the Samastipur court premises on August 25.

(Representative Photo)

Samastipur superintendent of police (SP) Vinay Tiwari on Saturday said that the arrested shooters were identified as Kailash Mandal alias Chhotu and Krishna Rai alias Chokha, both were arrested from Dhurva police station area in Ranchi (Jharkhand).

The shooting incident was over the liquor business syndicate in the Kalyanpur block area, said the police.

The shooting reportedly took place at the behest of former Mukhia and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) block president Ram Babu Rai and his associates.

During interrogation, SP said, the accused confessed their involvement in the attack. The RJD leader and his partner Prashant Tiwary alias Golu hired two contract killers for Rs.60 lakh and paid them Rs.12 lakh in advance, he added.

On August 25 two undertrials – Prabhat Choudhary and Prasant Tiwary – suffered bullet injuries when three armed assailants opened fire at them in the court premises at the time they were being taken to the court in a police escort from the divisional jail, police said.

While Ram Babu is the kingpin of the liquor syndicate and mastermind behind the crime his associate Golu runs the parallel gang, said police.

Meanwhile, during the interrogation, the SP also learned that the RJD leader runs his syndicate with help from station house officers– Gautam Kumar and Chandra Kishore Tuddu– posted with Kalyanpur and Chakmehsi police stations, respectively.

Both were immediately suspended from their respective posts and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against the them, said the SP.