Patna, Jan. 23: The recent spate of crimes in the capital has sent Patna police into a tizzy.

Barely 24 hours after a man was shot dead by unidentified men under Pirbhore police station, around 12 men barged into the residence of Yogendra Rai (40) and slit the throat of his wife, Rania Devi (30), before beating up his two sons black and blue.

Rai, a resident of Adalatganj area under Kotwali police station, works as a driver in Patna High Court.

After killing Rania, the men tied up Rai before shoving him into the bathroom. Thereafter, they decamped with cash worth Rs 1.8 lakh and jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh.

Sources said the murder was a murder for gain but because of a land deal gone horribly wrong.

Rai’s sons, Amit (16) and Sumit (14) have been admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). Rai’s family members told The Telegraph the men came down to the Rai residence from Pataur area of Darbhanga district. Nine persons have been identified for the killing based on the FIR lodged by Rai.

Kotwali police have rushed to Darbhanga district to conduct investigations and make possible arrests.

Sitting at PMCH, Rai told The Telegraph that the men knocked at his door around 11pm. “I had bought some land in Waivikadua area of Darbhanga in 2002. I had been instalments to the seller since then. But suddenly last year, the landowner sold off the land to someone else. He did not agree to get the land registered in my name. So I filed a court case against him for which hearings are on,” Rai said.

Once Rai opened the door, the men barged in and beat him up before tying his hands and throwing him inside the bathroom and locking the doors. “After around an hour, my sons forced open the bathroom door and untied me. The men had left and I saw my wife lying in a pool of blood,” he said.

But sources said the group of men and Rai had a two-hour-long discussion before they attacked the Rais.

They sat down with the family and started to talk about the land.

They began pressurising Rai to drop the court case immediately and quit pressing for the land. But Rai was adamant and soon the discussion heated up. After a while, the men got agitated and attacked the family. Rai was caught and thrashed before he was tied up and thrown into the bathroom. When Rania began shrieking, the men, fearing the neighbours would wake up, strangled her before slitting her throat. Some of them even beat up Amit and Sumit. Thereafter, they broke the cupboards, looted money and ornaments before fleeing, sources said.

The men knew that the family had cash at home as Rai recently took a loan of Rs 1.8 lakh to buy a vehicle on Saturday, but somehow the idea was dropped. The doctors at PMCH said the condition of the boys was stable.

Police sources said an FIR had been lodged against nine persons, including Vijay Kumar Mishra, Phuleshwar Yadav, Sitaram Paswan, Ganga Ram Rai, Jalebi Rai, Kari Rai, Gulab Rai, Ramswaroop Rai and Ravindra Yadav.

“Three more persons are involved and a team has left for Darbhanga to probe the murder. The matter is being investigated,” said an officer of Kotwali police station.

On Friday, Sheonath Das (50), an accountant with Anupam Prakashan, a publishing house, was shot dead at BM Das Road under Pirbhore police station. This case is being investigated and a few persons have been detained.