Investigators suspect a city-based gang of contract killers to have executed the daylight murder of BJP activist Avinash Kumar on Daldali Road in the heart of the capital on August 6.

Three members of the gang, headed by a professional "supari" (contract) killer of Patna City, were reportedly hired to eliminate Avinash, the general secretary of the BJP's town unit. The investigating officials didn't rule out the involvement of the relatives of prime suspect Pannalal Gupta in the incident.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vikas Vaibhav said on Monday the investigation was proceeding on the right track and hoped to crack the murder of Avinash in the next couple of days. "We are inching towards solving the case," he said.

A senior police officer, assigned to monitor the investigation, revealed that the identity of the three shooters, who had been captured by the closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) installed at the temple adjacent to the site of occurrence, had been ascertained. "They all are locals and not outsiders," he said.

The officer, preferring anonymity, said everything would come to the fore in a day or two. "Just wait for 48 hours and we would be able to provide every detail of the incident," the officer said.

A source said the leader of the suspected gang earlier used to hobnob with some police officers posted in Patna. The kingpin also cherished political aspirations. "Both Avinash and the suspected ganglord had a heated argument over the installation of posters and banners in Kadamkuan sometime ago," the source said.

The police have nabbed priest Pannalal, his son Darshan Gupta alias Guddu and his daughter and former ward councillor Jyoti. Three other members of the Gupta family, whose names figure as named accused in the case, are on the run since the murder.

The police immediately released the photographs of the three gunmen, whose chase and murder of Avinash was captured by the CCTVs. Raids were carried out in Patna and Hajipur to nab the assailants, who were in the age group of 20 to 30 years.

The police also used the social media to get feedback from residents. "We have used all contacts, right from our informers to the social media, to solve the case," an investigating officer said.

Patna City superintendent of police (central) Chandan Kushwaha said: "Yes, we have got certain clues in the case. But until and unless, the assailants (read shooters) are arrested, it would not be prudent to comment. Police operations are based on evidence."