A man was shot dead in rural Patna on Friday morning and another injured in a suspected fallout of family rivalry.

The deceased was identified as Jawahar Singh (70), a resident of Bakhwa village, 60km east of Patna, under Bhadaur police station in the Barh sub-division of Patna. Police suspect the assailants to be associates of jailed Mokama MLA Anant Singh.

Singh was shot dead around 7am when he was out grazing cattle with his nephew. Eight men came up to them and shot him. Jawahar's nephew, Naga Singh (50), a former army employee, tried to intervene and was shot in the stomach.

The police said the shooting was the fallout of a family rivalry. "We suspect Raghunath Singh, a close aide of Anant Singh, of planning to kill the duo," an officer at Bhadaur police station told The Telegraph.

"Naga had been asked to become the bodyguard of Anant some months ago but he had declined the offer. Raghunath and Naga's family had a land dispute for a long time too. All these things led to the incident."

Naga is admitted in Patna Medical College and Hospital, his condition is critical. His statement would give the police more details," the officer added.

According to information available with the police, Naga used to work for Anant till a year-and-a-half ago but left because of personal reasons. Sources said when Anant's men approached Naga again to become the MLA's bodyguard, the offer was turned down.

"Until now, the police have not found any direct involvement of the MLA in the case," the Bhadaur officer said, adding that the hunt for Raghunath was on.

Anant is already facing trouble over another case. The location of the cellphone from which a threat call was made to Barh sub-divisional police officer Manoj Tiwari last week has been traced to Bhagalpur Central Jail, where the MLA is lodged.

Anant had allegedly called up Tiwari and asked him not to interfere in election work carried out by the MLA's aides ahead of voting in Mokama on October 28. Denied the JDU ticket this time, Anant contested the election from Mokama in Patna district as an Independent.

The call had come after the police picked up Anant's personal assistant Sanjeet Singh from Mokama. At the time, Sanjeet was campaigning with the MLA's wife, Neelam Devi.

Patna senior superintendent of police Vikas Vaibhav said: "Investigations have revealed that the call was made from Bhagalpur Central Jail. The SIM card was issued in September this year. The police are in the process of taking Anant in remand in connection with the case."