Muzaffarpur, Feb. 13: Two people have been arrested while raids are on to nab Amresh Thakur, prime accused in the murder of Vijay Choudhary, whose niece he wanted to marry.

Failing to abduct Anita Choudhary (22), the criminals, allegedly sent by Amresh to her house in Jarangi village, 80km north of Patna in Muzaffarpur district, on Thursday night, had abducted her father Rambabu Choudhary and uncle Vijay. The uncle was later found dead in a banana field. Rambabu, too, lay unconscious there.

Two people named in the FIR, Amresh's brother Santosh and wife Nutan, were arrested and sent to Khudiram Bose Memorial Central Jail this afternoon. Also, during raids last night, the police recovered an embroidered saree, a vermilion packet and firearms from what was believed to be Amresh's hideout near a temple in Noonfar village. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ranjit Kumar Mishra said Amresh, a dreaded gangster accused of looting banks in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Samastipur and adjoining districts, wanted to abduct Anita and marry her at gunpoint at the temple.

Anita, who almost got shot while fighting her tormenters on Thursday night, lies writhing in pain at the Government Sadar hospital.

She nearly got shot and hurt her wrist badly while freeing herself from the of the criminals. She then hid in her neighbour's house.

"I had seen him (Amresh) when he visited our house on January 2 on the pretext of providing legal aid to free Rajan Choudhary, son of my uncle Vijay," Anita told The Telegraph. "Rajan is lodged in Khudiram Bose Memorial Central Jail. In the course of his conversation with my father, uncle and mother Nagina Devi, Amresh suddenly sought my hand in marriage. But they turned it down and he left in a huff."

It is assumed that Rajan, with whom Amresh enjoyed ties in jail, had promised to help him marry Anita, suspects Nagina, who was inconsolable. Anita's father is recuperating at the Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital. Doctors have advised him against speaking much.

SSP Ranjit, who visited the hospital, assured him Amresh would be arrested soon. There is police deployment in the village and at the hospital where Rambabu and Anita are undergo-ing treatment.

Forensic teams have started investigating the case. A special task team led by deputy superintendent of police Muttafique Ahmad has been constituted to arrest Amresh immediately. A named FIR against five persons has been instituted with the Piyar police station. Amresh's call details have been procured and his criminal connections are being verified.