Hari Mohan Prasad. Pictures by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Police are still groping in the dark to unravel the motive behind the murder of the Danapur-based hotelier on Wednesday night.

Hari Mohan Prasad, 50, was stabbed repeatedly during a dacoity in his two-storeyed house at Nasriganj while a wedding procession was passing the locality around 9.30pm.

Sources said jewellery worth lakhs of rupees was robbed after the criminals, around 10 in number, had knocked the front door and stormed the house. With his entire family — wife Sunita, his son Pankaj and daughter-in-law — being held captive, Prasad tried to resist following which he was taken to the kitchen and repeatedly stabbed on his back and stomach. “Prima facie, it looks to be a clear case of a dacoity and murder. There was a pool of blood in the kitchen as Prasad was stabbed mercilessly many times. However, all options of investigations are open. At present, police and forensic science teams are scanning the house looking for evidence,” senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj said.

A police officer said they were scanning the list of criminals who had been freed from jails recently. “The results are quite encouraging. There is one gang headed by Santosh Yadav, a hardcore criminal, who is into loot and dacoity. His gang has given shape to many dacoity incidents in the Danapur area. Yadav has recently got out of Beur jail. Though it cannot be said for sure, his hand in the incident cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Prasad had two hotels — Hotel Paradise and Shumaar — at Danapur.

The ransacked home of the Danapur hotelier

The police were also taken aback by the meticulous planning of the criminals.

“A marriage ceremony was going on in the locality at the time of the incident. The gang took advantage of the loud music and noise of the procession. They knew that once they entered the house, they had the benefit of the noise and the shrieks and cries would not be heard outside. The disadvantage, however, was that it was a very risky proposition and one mistake could have failed their plan as there were too many people in the locality because of the marriage. They entered the house without a problem after knocking the front door. This shows that the planning was perfect and that they had chosen the exact date and time for giving shape to the incident. During the robbery, which went on for at least an hour, they did not face any resistance from anyone except Prasad,” another officer said.

Prasad’s younger brother, identified as Lal Prasad, who stays next to the house, heard the cries. Before this, the dacoits had gagged all the family members prohibiting them from screaming. Lal shifted his elder brother to a private nursing home in the same area where he was declared brought dead.