Jharkhand police retired SI among two killed over land dispute in Patna within 12 hours

PATNA: In less than 12 hours, two persons including a retired sub-inspector of Jharkhand police were murdered in two separate incidents over land dispute in Patna district.
While retired SI Sunil Singh alias Siddhi Singh (62) was shot dead at village Niruddinpur under Khusrupur police station area of rural Patna in broad daylight around 8.30am on Tuesday, a farmer Lal Bihari Rai (45) was hacked to death at village Ghanshyampur under Naubatpur police station area in western Patna around 10pm on Monday.
SP (rural) Kantesh Kumar Mishra, who had also rushed to the spot for investigation, said that an old enmity was going on between the slain SI and his relatives in the village over some plots of land which they had received as compensation several years back.
“It was yet not clear that how much land they had received and over what kind of compensation. However, at least three murders had took place in the past over the same dispute. Latest being the murder of the retired SI,” he said.
Mishra said that villagers told police that at least eight rounds were fired targeting Singh when he was taking a walk outside his residence in the village at around 8.30am.
“Several gunshot injuries were visible on his body. He was shot in head too by the killers. Eight empty cartridges were recovered by police from the spot,” SP said adding exact bullet injuries would become clear after post-mortem.
SP Mishra said that the slain SI’s son had recovered his statement before police in which he had made eight persons as named accused for murder case.
“All of the accused persons were Singh’s relative and were neighbours too. In September last year, a murder took place over the same land dispute issue in which Singh was made a named accused,” he said.
SP said that raids were on to nab the killers. “They all had fled from the village. Further investigation was going on in connection with the murder case,” he added.
Meanwhile, Naubatpur police station SHO Samrat Deepak Kumar said Rai had returned from somewhere and was about to enter inside his residence when several people surrounded him at entrance.
“They attacked him with sharp edged objects used generally in farming and killed him at spot,” he said adding slain’s wife Chinta Devi had lodged an FIR against ten persons for killing her husband.
“She had cited old enmity as reason behind murder. Police had come to know that land dispute was going on between him and few co-villagers due to which murder took place,” he said, adding that none had been arrested yet.