Patna: At least four murders, including those of a former jawan and a priest, were reported from the state in the past 24 hours.

Police said Ram Vilas Yadav, 45, a retired Indian Army jawan, was shot dead by a group of armed criminals at Khagaul village under the jurisdiction of the Town police station in Lakhisarai district, around 136km south-east of Patna, on Saturday night.

The assailants pumped four bullets into Ram Vilas, who was posted as security guard at a private bank in the district headquarters, at his outhouse.

His father Brahmadev Yadav said that his son had to pay with his life for opposing the objectionable behaviour of some youths of the village during Saraswati Puja last week. The youths had threatened Ram Vilas with dire consequences.

The police arrested two suspects, Rohit Kumar and Kunal Kumar, from Khagaul village and produced them at the local court which remanded them to 14-day judicial custody. The duo had a heated argument with Ram Vilas over the behaviour of the youths during Saraswati Puja celebrations.

Lakhisarai sub-divisional police officer Pankaj Kumar said that prima facie it appeared that the youths killed Ram Vilas to take revenge. The criminal antecedents of the two arrested youths are being verified by the police, he added.

In Vaishali district, unidentified criminals shot dead a priest Mauni Kumar Baba, 65, and injured two others at Mirampur village under the jurisdiction of Jurawanpur police station late on Saturday night. One of the injured, Chhotan Rai, has been referred to Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna for treatment.

The incident took place when the priests were sleeping at an under-construction mutt at the village, around 15km south-east of the district headquarters at Hajipur and around 5km north-east of Patna. The motive of the assailants is yet to be ascertained.

In Samastipur district, a mukhiya's son, Revati Raman Yadav, 45, was killed by four armed assailants at Simha village under the jurisdiction of Bithan police station, around130km north-east of Patna, on Saturday evening.

Revati's mother Urmila Devi, head of the Simha panchayat, told the police that her son was shot from close range when he was playing volleyball on the ground of a local school. Revati died on the spot.

Rosera sub-divisional police officer Ajit Kumar rushed to the village with armed police and pacified demonstrators who had blocked the Hasanpur-Samastipur road to protest the murder. The police have failed to arrest any person for the murder.

In Begusarai, a youth identified as Kunal Kumar was shot dead by a gang Madhurapur village under the jurisdiction of Teghra police station, around 130km east of Patna, on Saturday night. Kunal had an altercation with two youths, Gulshan Kumar and Raman Kumar, over taking the picture of a girl on January 26. Police said Gulshan also suffered bullet injuries in the attack and is admitted to the local government hospital in critical condition.