Four fishermen were shot dead and one was grievously injured when they refused to part with their catch with some criminals.

The incident occurred at Brahmapura village under the jurisdiction of Kirimore police station, around 45km southwest of Patna at 11.30pm on Sunday.

The deceased were residents of nearby Mangla village and had gone for fishing at the canal.

Patna rural superintendent of police Har Kishore Rai said the criminals had approached the fishermen during daytime, demanding a share in the catch. After being denied the same, they returned at night killing four of the six fishermen, who were sleeping in a camp near the canal.

The victims were between 14 and 25 years of age.

Narrating what led to such a gory assault, Rai said: “The gang wanted all the fish the fishermen had caught. They had agreed to give some but the criminals wanted all. This led to an argument between the two groups. The victims have been regularly fishing in the canal, which is around 3km from their village. They set up a temporary tent and came back to fish almost two to three times every week. While five of them were fast asleep, a 14-year-old boy was awake, watching videos on his cellphone. He saw the attackers coming and fled, while the others couldn’t.”

The boy informed the residents about the attack after which the police were informed.

The criminals, who are natives of neighbouring Arwal district, have been identified, with their gang leader being Jumman Mian, a history sheeter.

“One of the fishermen who was injured in the incident has been admitted to the Patna Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition,” the rural SP said.

Three among the four deceased have been identified as Uday Bind, Ram Pravesh Bind and Manish Bind.

Patna senior superintendent of police Jitender Rana visited the spot around 2am and camped there till Sunday morning to monitor the case.

“As many as six police teams under the sub-divisional police officer of Barh and Mashauri, have been formed and the hunt is on to nab them. The cops at Arwal, too, have been alerted and the police are on the job. We have got directions from the state police headquarters to make sure that there is no delay in arresting them,” the SSP said.