Village head gunned down in BIhar’s Gopalganj; Second in a week

So far, nine elected mukhia have been killed in the last 13 months after the declaration of the panchayat poll results in Bihar

Unidentified assailants on Thursday morning gunned down head of the Phulguni panchayat, Mohammad Quareshi, at Narayanpur village under Thawe police station of Bihar’s Gopalganj district, triggering violent protest by locals, police said.

The murder of the village head triggered violent protest by locals in Bihar’s Gopalganj district. (Representative Image)

Police said Quareshi is the tenth village headman to have been killed in the state over the last 13 months and this is the second murder of a mukhiya (village head) at Thave police station area in a week.

Quareshi was murdered when he was on the way to his brick kiln from his Loharpatti village. Two motorcycle-borne criminals intercepted him at Narayanpur and shot at him multiple times. He was taken to Sadar hospital where doctors declared him ‘brought dead’.

“Hearing gunshots, villagers rushed to the spot. The gunmen fled on seeing a crowd approach,” said Mohammad Kasim, deputy president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Soon after the incident, local people and residents of neighboring villages arrived at the hospital and staged a protest.

Gopalganj superintendent of police (SP) Swarn Prabhat told HT that the incident occurred at around 8am. A special investigation team (SIT) under the supervision of deputy superintendent of police (Sadar) has been constituted to crack the case. Asked about the motive behind the killing, the SP said it is difficult to say anything as of now as police are investigating the matter. He didn’t rule out the involvement of hired goons in the killing.

“We have deputed additional force in the village and provided security to the deceased’s family. The situation is under control now,” he added.

On February 2, motorcycle borne criminals shot dead the mukhia of Parna panchayat identified as Birendra Kumar Sharma near a brick-kiln falling under Neema Chandpura police station area of Begusarai district.

Earlier on January 18, 2022, two motorcycle-borne assailants gunned down the head of the Dhatiwana panchayat, Sukhal Musahar, at his rented accommodation.