The spate of murders in the state continued unabated even on Friday with four persons killed in three incidents in Rohtas, Muzaffarpur and Sitamarhi.
The incidents occurred within 24 hours of chief minister Nitish Kumar's marathon meeting with top police officers to review the law-and-order situation.
A few residents of Turki village in Rohtas, around 165km southwest of Patna, spotted bullet-riddled bodies of two youths lying in a paddy field. The bodies of the deceased, whose identities couldn't be ascertained immediately, were sent to the Sasaram sadar hospital for post-mortem.
The residents told the Bikramgang police under whose jurisdiction the site of occurrence come that the victims were killed somewhere else and then their bodies were dumped in the field on the outskirts of the village.
The bodies were found when some residents had gone to attend the call of nature early in the morning.
Bikramganj sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Alok Ranjan said the police reached the spot after being informed by some locals. The victims in their 20s were not locals, as claimed by the residents of the village, he said, adding that the reason behind the incident was yet to be ascertained.
In another incident, 25-year-old Mukesh Kumar was lynched by a mob in Muzaffarpur on Friday. The victim was caught from Akharaghat of the town on the suspicion of being a thief and brutally assaulted. He was rushed to the sadar hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Agitated over the incident, local residents blocked the road near Akharaghat bridge and paralysed traffic.
In Sitamarhi, a 22-year-old youth identified as Bipin Kumar was killed allegedly by his in-laws over a family dispute. Bipin was attacked when he had gone to meet his wife Vinita Devi at Parsandi under the jurisdiction of Parihar police station on Thursday.
An officer posted at Parihar police station said an FIR has been lodged on the statement of the deceased's mother Neelam Devi, who accused her son's in-laws, including her daughter-in-law Vinita, her father Binod Mahto, his wife Murty Devi and their son Sikandar Mahto of murdering her son.
In Jehanabad, 20-year-old Rahul Kumar was shot at and critically injured late Thursday evening. The incident occurred when Rahul, a resident of Purusottampur, was returning home from Horilgang on foot. Rahul reached the sadar hospital from where he was referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital in serious condition.
An FIR has been lodged with the Okari police station on the statement of the victim. The incident came as a shock for the residents of the district headquarters town, who were at the receiving end following a spurt in crime incidents.
The state recorded 1,602 incidents of murder, 884 robberies, 27 cases of kidnapping for ransom, 702 incidents of rape, 106 road dacoities, 690 incidents of road robbery, three incidents of bank dacoity and two bank robberies between January and July this year.
A senior officer posted at the police headquarters admitted an increase of two to seven per cent in different heads of crime in the state since January (till July) this year compared to the corresponding period in 2016. He said a total of 1,504 people were killed between January and July last year.
Similarly, 22 people were kidnapped for ransom and 571 raped in the state. Likewise, 82 cases of road dacoity, 703 cases of road robbery, three incidents of bank robbery and seven incidents of bank dacoity were recorded during the corresponding period last year, the officer revealed.
Additional director-general (headquarters) S.K. Singhal, who was present during the law and order review meeting chaired by Nitish, said instructions had been issued to the superintendents of police to study the pattern of crime at police station level and take proper steps to check the incidents.