Police on Wednesday arrested six people including an RJD member and claimed to have cracked the sensational murder case of LJP sympathiser Brijnathi Singh, who was killed with assault rifles on the outskirts of Patna on February 5 in a daring daylight attack that had stunned the city.
With the Patna police nabbing RJD member Sunil Rai, one of the main accused in the case, the cops said one of the main reasons behind Singh's murder was the upcoming panchayat polls.
"Sunil Rai is the younger brother of Subodh Rai and both these men are the main conspirators," said Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj. "Sunil's wife was set to contest in the upcoming panchayat polls for the position of the block head of Raghopur in Vaishali. Brijnathi's brother Amarnathi Singh's wife Munni Devi, who is presently the block head, was also re-contesting. This, apart from the enmity which Brijnathi's family had with that of Subodh's since years now, became the main reason for his killing. While Subodh is still absconding, Sunil was arrested by a special team of the Patna police from a locality under the Kanksa police station area of the Burdwan district of Bengal."
Singh and some of his family members had just entered Patna from Raghopur in two vehicles when the killers had opened fire in broad daylight. Singh died on the spot, Munni Devi sustained critical injuries and Brijnathi's wife Beera Devi had a miraculous escape when bullets hit her cellphone and power bank tucked inside her clothes and saved her life.
The SSP said that two AK-47 rifles, apart from other firearms, had been used in the brazen assault that had been carefully planned. Police sources said the plan was hatched on January 26.
"Apart from Sunil Rai the police have been successful in nabbing five others, all contract killers by profession," SSP Maharaaj said. "They have been identified as Satyaprakash, Gorelal Yadav, Bulkan Rai, Sunil Kumar and Roshan Kumar. Earlier, the police had arrested four men in connection with the murder. They were identified as Munna Singh, Ranvijay, Babloo Singh and Ram Janam."
He added: "It has been learnt that Ranvijay and Ram Janam carried AK-47 rifles and were the main shooters. Subodh Rai was not present during the killing but Sunil and the rest were at the spot and shot at the family with pistols. Munna Singh and Babloo Singh were following the SUV since they started from Raghopur on a bike and overtook the car as it approached the end of the pontoon bridge connecting Patna and Raghopur. As they overtook the car, the duo fired indiscriminate shots which led to panic among the people resulting in a traffic jam. The SUV had to reduce its speed and this was the time when all the killers appeared, surrounded the vehicle, and started firing."
The police have not yet been able to recover the assault rifles used in the attack.
"The weapons are being searched for," SSP Maharaaj said. "Sunil is a major catch and he has cleared many things, including the motive and how the murder was planned. After killing Brijnathi, the two groups had separated and Sunil first fled to Dhanbad in Jharkhand and then slipped into Bengal from there. He has a relative who stays in Burdwan and had gone there apparently to attend a function when the cops, on the basis of a tip-off, organised a raid and caught him. The whole team involved in this operation will be rewarded."
