Patna, Aug. 10: Police today claimed to have cracked the mystery behind the murder of mukhiya (panchayat head) Baby Devi, shot dead at Kurthaul Dariyapur village under Parsa Bazaar police station in Patna rural on July 25 this year.

Acting on a tip-off that some criminals had gathered near Mithapur bus stop to commit a crime, a police team, headed by city superintendent of police Jayant Kant, conducted a raid last evening and nabbed Pinku Singh, Janmay Kumar and Shrawan Rai. A semi-automatic pistol, a katta (countrymade pistol), eight live cartridges, five cellphones and two motorcycles were seized.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amrit Raj said all the arrested confessed to their involvement in the murder of Baby Devi (40), the mukhiya of Gorkhari panchayat under Bikram police station in Patna district. “They committed the crime in connivance with a notorious criminal and son of former mukhiya of Gorkhari panchayat Babloo Singh, alias Ranvijay Pratap, a resident of Gajachak Mohabatpur village,” he added.

The SSP said the incident was the fallout of the ongoing war of attrition between Babloo and the Devi’s husband. “Babloo’s wife lost to Baby Devi in the 2010 panchayat election,” he said, adding that Babloo was looking for an opportunity to teach his opponent a lesson since then. Babloo is on the run.

The SSP said Pinku had earlier been sent to jail in connection with a murder case and hijacking a tractor from Hilsa area in Nalanda district. “The antecedents of his two accomplices are being verified,” he added. Raj added that raids were on to arrest other members of the gang.