Samastipur, March 4: A local court has sent one of the six named accused in the recent murder of a liquor trader at Satanpur village to 14 days of judicial custody.
The court has also issued a warrant against the remaining five accused, ordering attachment of their property.
Rohit Kumar, alias Antu Israr, surrendered to Ram-ashray, the acting chief judicial magistrate at Dalsingsarai sub-divisional court, yesterday. The court sent him to 14 days of judicial custody.
Station house officer of Ujiarpur police station Kamlesh Kumar Singh said he received the warrant of attachment of property against Dablu Jha, Papu Chaudhary, Ramadhar Jha, Manoranjan Giri and Dudhpiwa on Saturday.
Motorcycle-borne criminals had shot dead Phannu Jha, the liquor trader, at Satanpur on February 29. The criminals were waiting for him near a filling station, Baidnath Petroleum, on National Highway 28 at Satanpur, located about 25km south of the district headquarters, under Ujiarpur police station. The assailants had pumped 28 bullets in Jha’s body the moment he got down from his car near the filling station.
Darbhanga range deputy inspector-general (DIG) Sudhanshu Kumar said raids were on at all possible hideouts. “Antu had to surrender because of the raids. We expect the other accused would surrender soon,” he said.
“The police in the district have announced an award of Rs 25,000 for information on Dablu and Papu each. Dablu and Papu are the prime accused in Jha’s murder case,” the DIG added.
The deceased was also a former member of Ujiarpur (Zone 30) zilla parishad.
The trader’s brother, Shivendra Kumar Jha, lodged an FIR naming the six persons as accused. Superintendent of police Varun Kumar Sinha set up a team, led by sub-inspector Balkrishna Yadav, to track down the six accused.
The team carried out raids in places where the suspected assailants could have taken shelter. The six were also involved in a number of cases related to murder, abduction and robbery, the police said.
Tuna Jha, another brother of the slain trader, was accused in the Akhilesh Rai murder case. Rai, an RJD leader, was killed in 2006 at Bathna village under Mushrigharari police station.
