Patna, May 9: An undertrial gangster shot dead a rival “don” in a Motihari court complex teeming with security personnel, setting off a violent reaction in the north Bihar town.

Police said Raju Kumar Rathor, an Uttar Pradesh-based criminal, shot Chhote Lal Sahni with a 9-mm pistol around 9.30 this morning, killing him on the spot.

Sahni, a “terror” in the region, was involved in the abduction of many traders. “Rathor, too, is a notorious underworld operator involved in cases of murder and abduction,” said Motihari DSP H.K. Verma. “Both were in a Motihari prison for nearly two years.”

The police said the two were brought to the court for “routine production”. Asked how an undertrial had a gun with him, an officer said: “It appears that some of Rathor’s supporters gave him the pistol.” Witnesses, however, said they didn’t see anyone going near Rathor.

After the murder, Sahni’s supporters went on the rampage, hurling stones at the police and people. The police fired six rounds in the air to quell the violence.