Patna: A 25-year-old girl was shot dead by two youths on the busy Hajipur-Lalganj road in Vaishali district, around 30km north of Patna, on Tuesday afternoon.

The incident occurred around 1pm when Priti Rani a.k.a Soni was returning to her native village, Khiritola Ghataro, with her elder brother Manish Kumar on a motorbike.

Two youths on a motorbike overtook Manish and fired at Priti, an undergraduate student of Ram Videshi Singh College at Dhanushi in Vaishali district. The girl was rushed to the Hajipur sadar hospital where the doctors declared her brought dead.

The assailants, who had helmets on, fled towards Lalganj after shooting Priti.

Agitated over the daylight murder, local residents blocked the Lalganj-Hajipur road near Manua Chowk and Ghataro (under Kartaha police station) for over four hours. When the police used force to remove the blockade, the protesters pelted them with stones.

Hajipur additional superintendent of police (ASP) Ajay Kumar and Hajipur Sadar police station house officer (SHO) Chitranjan Thakur reached the spot and pacified the protestors.

Priti's brother Manish told the police that he and Priti had gone to Hajipur for medical check-up. Priti's father, Ashok Kumar Singh, told the police that she was engaged a month ago and the family was preparing for the wedding in June.

Residents said law and order has nose-dived in the district headquarters town. "The criminals are targeting the people at frequent intervals. They are virtually ruling the roost in Vaishali," said C.B. Mishra, a local resident.

Early this month, a constable was shot dead in Hajipur when he was escorting a juvenile undertrial.