The body of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited contractor Prakash Koley was recovered from the Kosi in Bhagalpur district's Naugachhia on Monday, a day after eight suspects were arrested for alleged involvement in his kidnapping and subsequent murder.

Naugachhia superintendent of police (SP) Shekhar Kumar said the body of the contractor was spotted floating in the river by some residents of Manbruni village, who informed the Rangra police outpost on Monday afternoon. A police team immediately rushed to the spot and took the body into its custody.

"The body has been identified as that of Prakash Koley, a Begusarai-based contractor, who had gone missing from Naugachhia Zero Mile Chowk on May 21 evening. The body will be handed over to his relatives after post-mortem," the SP said.

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) contractor's family members - Jyotsna Koley (wife) and son Prabhat Koley - were camping at Naugachhia since May 22. Prabhat, a Class IX student, was so scared that he refused to speak to reporters.

Prakash, a leading contractor of BPCL based at Barauni in Begusarai, went missing while returning home from Kursela in Katihar district via Naugachhia-Bhagalpur on May 21. The members of an inter-state gang headed by Madhepura's Lallu Yadav - said to be a relative of Bharat Yadav, a terror of Bhagalpur and its neighbouring districts in eastern Bihar - took Prakash hostage offering him lift.

The arrested members of the gang had revealed to the police on Sunday that Prakash was strangulated to death within a few hours and his body was thrown into the river near Bihpur. But the contractor's body was found at Manbruni, about 7km east of Naugachhia town.

Inspector-general (Bhagalpur zone) Bachchu Singh Meena submitted a detailed report to the state police headquarters hinting at lack of coordination among senior police officers and poor policing as reasons behind the spurt in criminal activities in Naugachhia.

Meena, who was assigned to monitor probe into the case, said a case was reported from the area a couple of days before the abduction of Prakash. "Had the police taken action against the offenders in the case, the kidnapping of Prakash could have been averted," he said.

"I have asked the SP concerned to fix the responsibility of the officers. Stern action should be initiated against erring police personnel. I have asked the investigating officer to collect scientific evidence to prove the charges against the accused," he added.

Sources said IG Meena has recommended disciplinary action against the Naugachhia SP and additional SP Ramashanker Rai also for their lackadaisical attitude.

Before Prakash, sources said, Araria resident Manish Kumar had earlier fallen victim to the Lallu Yadav gang. The gang members withdrew Rs 30,000 from his bank account using his ATM card. Manish had lodged a written complaint with the Rangra police outpost but no action was taken. Sushil Jha, a teacher, was also kidnapped by the gang. The station house officer of Rangra Jai Prakash Singh admitted that cases were instituted on the statements of the victims.

The murder of Prakash, who had roots in Bengal, has sent shock waves among the residents. "Policing has touched its nadir in Naugachhia," said Lallan Kumar Roy, a social activist.

Sanjay Chatterjee, a medical representative, said: "We prefer not to move on the National Highway 31 at night because of spurt in crimes. The Naugachhia police have not taken any lesson from Pritam Bhattacharjee murder case."

Pritam was kidnapped and murdered at Naugachhia in 2012 while he was travelling by a train to Delhi from Assam. "All the accused in the Pritam murder case were released for lack of evidence," lamented CPI(ML) leader Bindeshwari Mandal.