Patna: A 27-year-old Dalit youth was shot dead and another seriously injured by three armed youths riding on a motorbike who were enraged at not being able to overtake the two in Gopalganj district, around 210km northwest of Patna, on Friday evening.

Police said the incident took place near Sareya airstrip under the jurisdiction of Mirganj police station in Gopalganj district when Mritunjay Baitha and his relative Mukhlal Baitha were returning to their native village Narhawa village under Gopalpur police station from Mirganj on their motorbike.

Three youths riding a motorbike tried to overtake Mritunjay but they couldn't succeed due to traffic congestion. Infuriated over the rider's reluctance to give right of way to their vehicle, one of the youths alighted from the motorbike and started thrashing Mritunjay who was on his two-wheeler.

When Mritunjay resisted, the youth fired at him from close range, killing him on the spot. Thereafter, the attackers fled the spot. However, two mobile phones fell on the ground, which were later seized by the police. Mukhlal was assaulted when he came to rescue Mritunjay and received injuries in the process.

Rajeev Kumar Dubey, an assistant sub-inspector of police posted at Mirganj police station, said, prima facie, the incident appeared to be a case of road rage. "The boy was shot when he didn't allow the attackers' vehicle to overtake his," he said, adding that efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the assailants with the help of their seized cellphones.

Agitated over the incident, residents blocked national highway-28 and paralysed traffic for five hours. The traffic was restored after the intervention of senior police officials, who promised to book the culprits at the earliest. The police also recorded the statement of Mukhlal who was undergoing treatment at Gopalganj sadar hospital.

Earlier, the Mritunjay's father Ratan Baitha told the police that his son and Mukhlal, a relative, had gone to Bhore to attend a wedding ceremony on Friday. Around 8pm he received information that both Mritunjay and Mukhlal had been injured in a road accident. "When we reached the hospital, an employee said one of the injured had died," he told The Telegraph over phone.

Later, an FIR was lodged with the Mirganj police station on the basis of Ratan's statement. The three suspects in the case were reported to be absconding after the incident. "A special police team has been set up to arrest the accused at the earliest," Gopalganj superintendent of police (SP) Ravi Ranjan Kumar said.

The incident is reminiscent of a similar incident in Gaya in May 2016 when a 19-year-old Class XII student was shot dead by one Rocky Yadav, son of a former MLC Manorama Devi, after the former's vehicle overtook the latter's Land Rover car. Rocky's father Bindi Yadav is considered a bahubali in Magath region.

In 2017, a Gaya court sentenced Rocky and two other accused to life imprisonment after the incident was found to be true. "The repeat of such an incident almost after two years is not a good sign. The police should take the case seriously and ensure speedy trial," said a senior advocate of the Patna High Court.