Ranchi, May 13: Two motorcycle-borne criminals today shot dead a lawyer, Jawahar Prasad Singh, in Daltonganj while he was returning home after attending the court.

Agitated over the death of Singh, also a member of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), the lawyers of the town laid siege to Sadar hospital.

The protesters could be pacified only after superintendent of police (SP) Deepak Verma assured them of nabbing the assailants within 24 hours.

However, no arrest was made till the filing of this report.

The top brass of the state machinery, including chief secretary A.K. Basu, home secretary Sudhir Tripathy and director-general of police (DGP) V.D. Ram, were in Daltonganj when the shocking incident took place.

The top officers were there to review the impact of the Government of India-sponsored pilot project to bring youths to the mainstream of the society.