A person posing as a marriage mediator has been arrested for plotting the murder of railway employee Bisheswar Rai, along with his two friends, at his Railway Colony quarters on the day of his daughter’s wedding.

The negotiator, Subodh Kumar, hired contract killers to kill the trio to pocket Rs 8 lakh he had taken from Bisheswar on the pretext of meeting the dowry demand of the groom’s family. Mufassil police station has registered an FIR against Subodh and some unnamed persons.

Bisheswar was found dead with his friends Bishwanath Rai and Ramesh Rai on Monday. The railway employee’s daughter, Ragini, was supposed to the tie nuptial knot with panch- ayat schoolteacher Rajnish Kumar the same day at Deoghar.

Subodh allegedly took around Rs 8 lakh from Bisheswar on the pretext of giving it to Rajnish’s parents as dowry. But he kept the entire sum with himself without even meeting the groom’s parents for once. He took the bride’s family for a ride, saying Rajnish was ready to get married but not his family members. He also changed the date of Ragini’s marriage several times.

Darbhanga range deputy inspector-general Sudhanshu told The Telegraph: “Subodh has confessed to his crime. He hired contract killers to kill the trio in lieu of Rs 2 lakh. He also admitted that he took Rs 8 lakh from Bisheswar’s family on the pretext of getting Ragini married to Rajnish. But he did not give a single penny to Rajnish’s family. He also changed the date of marriage of Ragini and Rajnish several times. But the bride’s family never bothered to see the groom’s family.”