Patna, Feb. 20: Blood spilled in and around the state capital in the past few days over conflicts within the family or tussle among friends, sending shockwaves through the society.

Three back-to-back murders in four days, allegedly by those close to the victims, rocked Patna City. The police told The Telegraph that while professional criminals can be tamed, murders within the family often become very difficult to control. Psychologists believe such crimes can be controlled to a great extent if parents keep a close watch on their children.

“The police can take care of the gangs and professional criminals. But these incidents are difficult to prevent. It is almost impossible to know what is brewing in a family or among a group of friends. The police can only arrest a culprit,” a police officer said, adding that a number of kidnaps were recorded in the state capital in which friends were involved.

City-based psychologists attributed such incidents to the degradation of family values.

“Illicit affairs and land conflicts are the prime causes of such crimes. Another reason, which is prevalent among teenagers, is the want of more money. However, it is difficult to give an opinion as to why these things happen. In these cases, the parents are solely responsible, as they are the ones who should be careful about their wards. They should know the whereabouts of their children. Once that happens, such incidents will come down considerably. The police should be more careful in handling cases related to land disputes,” Anil Kumar, a city-based psychologist told The Telegraph.

On Sunday, the Alamganj police arrested a middle-aged woman Vimla Devi for allegedly stabbing her husband to death the previous night with the help of her brother-in-law Sunil Mishra.

The cops said Vimla was having an affair with Sunil and the trouble started after her husband Vijay came to know about it. The police said the couple had heated arguments quite regularly. On Saturday night, when Vijay was asleep, Vimla called Sunil and both of them attacked Vijay with a knife. They kept stabbing him till he died.

On February 15, a man allegedly killed his nephew with the help of his associates at the Tulsi Mandir area of Alamganj. The police said the murder was a result of a dispute over a piece of land.

“The murder was a result of a dispute over a plot. Two persons, including the uncle of the victim, have been arrested. Raids are on to nab others,” an officer of Alamganj police station said.

On February 16, Rajgir police handed over the body of 32-year-old Ashish Kumar, a resident of Chailitand in Alamganj, to his family. Ashish had gone missing on February 13. The Rajgir police found his body a day after he went missing. Nobody has been arrested in the case, but the police suspect Ashish was killed by one of his friends, Ravi Shankar alias Heera.

“Heera owed some money to Ashish. It could have triggered the murder. Heera and his family members are absconding now and the police are looking for him,” the officer said.