Patna/Darbhanga: A septuagenarian tea kiosk owner was hacked to death on Thursday evening in Darbhanga district with his family members claiming he had been murdered for naming a chowk (square) after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the district authorities blamed the killing on an old dispute over land.
Over two dozen people armed with hockey sticks, iron rods and swords attacked Ramchandra Yadav, 71, at his shop near Babu Bhadwa village under the jurisdiction of Darbhanga Sadar police station, around 125km northeast of Patna.
Ramchandra's son Kamaldev Yadav, 35, was also injured when he tried to intervene and has been admitted to Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital for treatment.
Kamaldev's brother Tej Narain Yadav, a local BJP leader, alleged that his father was killed because Ramchandra had put up a board at Babu Bhadwa Chowk - where the family owns the tea stall - declaring it as Narendra Modi Chowk.
"Some people were protesting the renaming and wanted the chowk named after RJD chief Lalu Prasad," said Tej Narain, who is president of the BJP's Balaha panchayat unit.
He said that he was not present when his father and brother were attacked, but said Kamaldev could identify some of the attackers "once his health improves".
Darbhanga district magistrate (DM) Chandra Shekhar Singh, however, said the murder was a fallout of an old rivalry between two families of the village over land.
"The incident is not related to change of name of the chowk," Singh told The Telegraph over phone on Friday.
He pointed out that there is a procedure to be followed to rename a public place.
"Someone putting up a signboard doesn't make any sense. The district administration has not received any petition from the residents to name it after any person or organisation," the DM added.
Tej Narain, however, claimed that RJD supporters had murdered one of his brothers two years ago when he had put up a banner declaring the same square as Narendra Modi Chowk.
"When my father went to explain the situation, he too was thrashed then," he added.
An FIR has been lodged in Ramchandra's murder, based on the statement of Ramchandra's wife, Sushila Devi.
In the FIR, Sushila has alleged that a man named Kamlesh Yadav had hatched a conspiracy to eliminate her husband.
She admitted in the FIR that her family had a dispute with Kamlesh over a piece of property.
Darbhanga senior superintendent of police (SSP) Satyaveer Singh said Kamlesh has been arrested and three others have been detained for interrogation over Ramchandra's murder.
"Efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the other accused," he said.
The incident has already taken political overtones.
Darbhanga Town legislator Sanjay Sarawagi said a BJP delegation met director-general of police K.S. Dwi-vedi on Friday and demanded stern action against the accused.
Local residents blocked the Darbhanga-Laheriyasarai road near Karpoori Chowk and disrupted traffic for several hours on Friday in protest against the murder.
The road blockade was removed after the intervention of senior police and administrative officials.
