The construction of a bridge over the Gandak connecting Gopalganj and Bettiah districts came to a grinding halt following the murder of a supervisor and a clerk of the firm executing the work on Wednesday.

Sumit Chaubey, the supervisor of Hyderabad-based firm Bashishtha Construction Company, and a clerk were shot dead by bike-borne criminals on June 6 when they were being taken to a hospital for treatment after suffering injuries at the construction site. Following their death, the other workers of the firm stopped work out of fear.

The bridge on the Gandak is being constructed between Jadopur in Gopalganj and Mangalpur in Bettiah at a cost of Rs 365 crore. Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam chairman Pratyaya Amrit, also the road construction department secretary, said: “The (construction) work will resume in two to three days. Security personnel will be deployed at the spot.”