Bihar: Nine murdered in four places in last 24 hours

Close on the heels of the high-profile killing of businessman Gopal Khemka in Patna on 4 July, shot dead outside his residence as he prepared to emerge from his car at around 11.00 pm, a spate of murders have been reported from Bihar.

At least nine people were murdered in four incidents in the state over the last 24 hours, police said on Monday. The killings took place in Purnea, Nalanda, Muzaffarpur and Patna districts.

In Purnea district, five members of a family were killed and their bodies set on fire by villagers on suspicion of practising witchcraft.

In Nalanda district, a 22-year-old woman and another person were shot dead after a dispute between children from two neighbouring families escalated into violence.

A government engineer was allegedly stabbed to death by robbers in front of his family in Muzaffarpur, while a 50-year-old businessman was shot dead in Patna.

The state's opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav had attacked the Nitish Kumar-led state government's "jungle raj" on 5 July, pointing to Khemka's murder as the latest in a series of killings reported in the state since the last week of May.

Likewise, in an X post on 6 July, Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi wrote: “The brazen murder of businessman Gopal Khemka in Patna has once again proven — the BJP and Nitish Kumar together have turned Bihar into India's crime capital."

Police said the initial probe suggested that five members of a family in Tetma village in Purnea were first murdered on suspicion of practising witchcraft.

Two persons have been arrested in connection with the murders, and a manhunt has been launched to nab the other accused, they said. Police are trying to ascertain the identity of the deceased.

"Preliminary investigation suggests that five members of a family in Tetma village were first murdered on suspicion of practising witchcraft. It appears that the accused then burnt their bodies in a bush. The incident took place on Sunday night," DIG (Purnea) Pramod Kumar Mandal told PTI.

In Nalanda’s Dumrawan village, two persons, including a 22-year-old woman, were shot dead on Sunday night when members of two families fired at each other over a domestic dispute, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Annu Kumari, daughter of Om Prakash Paswan, and Himanshu Kumar (24), son of Santosh Paswan, Nalanda deputy SP Ram Dular Prasad said.

"Upon receiving information about the firing incident, a police team immediately reached the spot and took the injured to the nearest government hospital, where they were declared dead. Bodies have been sent for the post-mortem examinations. The exact cause of the incident is not known," Prasad said.

Villagers claimed that a dispute among the children of two families over a game turned violent, and both sides started firing.

A case has been registered and the investigation is underway, the officer added. The families of the deceased also staged a protest outside the hospital over the alleged lack of facilities to manage emergency cases.

Mohammad Mumtaz, a junior engineer, was stabbed to death at his house in Madipur in Muzaffarpur district at around 3.00 am, police said.

In Patna, businessman Ajeet Kumar was shot dead in the Khagaul area on Sunday night. "A case has been registered and an investigation is underway," SP City (West) Bhanu Pratap Singh said.

With PTI inputs