Patna, Feb. 10: National-level kabaddi player Manisha Devi was murdered yesterday in cold blood. The white lie of spurned CRPF jawan Yashwant Singh for collecting the AK-47 rifle from the armoury half-an-hour before his duty was over hints so.

Personnel on duty at night are entitled to carry arms. Yashwant, who died tonight, was posted at the main gate of Moin-ul-Haque stadium in daytime on Wednesday. His duty was till 6pm. So he was unarmed.

Bidhan Chandra Patra, the commandant of the 131st Battalion of the CRPF, told The Telegraph: “He was in a shift in which gun was not needed. His duty was supposed to end at 6pm. But he left his post half-an-hour earlier and headed straight to the ‘koth’ or the battalion armoury. He told the koth commander that he had been given night duty and he wanted a gun. The commander knew him well since he is here in the battalion for three years. He believed in Yashwant, made the required entries and gave him the AK-47 rifle with cartridges. After this, Yashwant slipped out through the rear side of the camp.”

Police said the murder was a result of a love triangle gone horribly wrong. Yashwant, the jilted lover, carefully planned her killing and executed it. Outgoing city superintendent of police Manu Maharaj said they had come to know about the same from the CRPF officers. The matter would be investigated from that angle too.

Patra said: “It is a police case with an FIR been lodged. But we have ordered a court of inquiry.”

Yashwant told Patra at Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) on Wednesday that he was in love with Manisha but she was having an affair with an Indian Army jawan posted in Gaya.

After Manisha refused to entertain her, Yashwant was torn emotionally. Seething in rage he decided to kill her.

“I had a talk with him (Yashwant) last (Wednesday) evening. Two bullets hit him. One punctured his lungs and the other completely damaged his backbone,” Patra said.

Yashwant, a resident of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, has two children. He was also a kabaddi player.

“He participated in many inter-house competitions. It seems Yashwant and Manisha knew each other for quite sometime. Yashwant told me that both of them loved each other. But the girl later fell in love of the married army jawan,” the officer said.

Unaware of any of her affairs, Manisha’s parents are shell-shocked over her death. She was the lone breadwinner of her family.

“We are stunned. Suddenly the news came and we were in tears. We have lost everything, a daughter and a breadwinner,” Yashpal Thakur, Manisha's father who is currently in Patna to take her body back to her native place, told The Telegraph.

Eldest among three sisters and a brother, Manisha (21) passed her matriculation examination from Jangla High School, about 150km off Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. She belonged to Jhalwari village of Rohru sub-division in Shimla district.

Manisha passed her plus one and plus two exams from Dharamshala and was appointed as railway clerk three years ago. She was currently posted at Danapur divisional office of East Central Railway.

Manisha had a passion for study and kabaddi. She had represented the country in several international events, including 2010 Asian Games.

“She loved two things — studies and kabaddi,” Yashpal said.

Manisha was continuing with her studies and was to appear in her BA final year examination this April.

Bihar art and culture minister Sukhada Pandey has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the family of Manisha.