Three persons, including a top leader of the outlawed private militia Ranveer Sena, were gunned down in Rohtas district of southwest Bihar.
Police said former Ranveer Sena area commander Dhanji Singh and his two bodyguards were shot dead near Durgapur village in Sasaram mufassil police station area, 151 km southwest of Patna, late on Tuesday night.
The two other deceased had been identified as Mantu Singh, a resident of Sahejani village in neighbouring Bhojpur district as well as Shashikant Tiwary, a resident of village Kurri in Nokha police station area of Rohtas, the police said.
Rohtas superintendent of police Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said members of Dhanji’s gang seemed to be involved in the killings. “Dhanji and his associates had left Naran village in Baghaila police station area of the district at about 7pm in an SUV and were shot dead inside the vehicle. The bodies were later thrown by the side of a canal near Durgapur village. It seemed that the murders were planned and executed by Dhanji’s men as the police did not find any empty cartridge or the SUV near the bodies,” the SP added.
In the FIR lodged by Dhanji’s wife Kiran Devi, eight persons,all bodyguards of the slain gangster, have been named as accused. Police teams were conducting raids to arrest the accused and recover the SUV, Dhillon said.
{{/usCountry}}In the FIR lodged by Dhanji’s wife Kiran Devi, eight persons,all bodyguards of the slain gangster, have been named as accused. Police teams were conducting raids to arrest the accused and recover the SUV, Dhillon said.
{{/usCountry}}Those named in the FIR are Rudra Mishra, Chandan Gupta, Chandan Yadav, Bablu Mishra , Abhishek Kumar and Raushan Kumar from Buxar district, Amit Kumar from Siwan and Guddu Singh from Sasaram.
Dhanji, 57, had joined the Ranveer Sena after Maoists attacked Rajpur police station and Baghaila police outpost in Rohtas district, killed nine persons, including six policemen, and looted 17 sophisticated police weapons and ammunitions on June 30, 2007.
Later, Dhanji shot dead four Dalits at Charpookhari village and was made Rohtas area commander of the Ranveer Sena, the outlawed private army of upper caste landlords that was involved in several massacres in Rohtas, Bhojpur, Jehanabad and Gaya districts of Bihar in the past.
Accused in many cases of murder, loot and extortion, Dhanji was lodged in jail for several years. He was released on bail last year and since then was involved in illegal stone and sand mining in the district.