Rohtas superintendent of police Manu Maharaj. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Patna, April 9: A notorious gangster of Burdwan in Bengal, Tushar Kant Choudhary, had taken supari (contract) for the murder of a heroin smuggler of Sasaram in Rohtas district, Bulaki Kahar. Choudhary was promised a sum of Rs 10 lakh for the assignment.

The startling fact came to light during the interrogation of Dhananjay Upadhyay, a close associate of Choudhary. Dhananjay along with two other members of the gang, identified as Krishna Kumar Upadhyay and Sonu Singh, was arrested from a hotel at Dehri-on-Sone in Rohtas district on Friday.

Rohtas superintendent of police Manu Maharaj told The Telegraph that one carbine, three 9mm pistols and 20 live cartridges were seized from the possession of the arrested criminals, said to be members of an inter-state gang of professional killers.

“We have unearthed the plot to eliminate Bulaki Kahar of Sasaram by apprehending three sharp shooters from a Dehri-hotel,” he said.

During interrogation, Dhananjay, a resident of Usaon village under Kachchwan police station, revealed to the police that they had assembled at the hotel with Choudhary to work oput the final plan. The man, who had given the contract for the murder of the narcotics dealer, had contacted the gang a few weeks ago.

According to the plan, one member of the gang was to accompany the conspirator at the time of meeting Kahar to ascertain the latter’s identity. Thereafter, the shooters would attack Kahar, who has acquired the dubious distinction of being an “uncrowned king of narcotics deal”, in Bihar and eastern UP.

Kahar’s rise in the past decade has been phenomenal. His clout can be gauged from the fact that Kahar was elected as ward councillor from Sasaram in 2006.

His membership was, however, terminated for remaining absent for long from the meetings of ward councillors.

Kahar (45) stepped into drug trafficking as a part-time peddler way back in 2000. “Earlier he used to sell packets of Heroin in Sasaram town,” recalled a senior police officer who was earlier posted in Rohtas district.

Sources said that heroin worth Rs 3 crore was seized from Kahar’s house located at Kadirganj in Sasaram town when Nayyar Hasnain Khan was posted as the superintendent of police, Rohtas. Kahar had, however, managed to give a slip to the police.

The police had arrested six persons, including four women, and two country-made pistols, Rs 50,000 in cash and lottery tickets worth Rs 15 lakh during the raid.

Rohtas SP said that raids were on to arrest Choudhary, who managed to escape from the hotel room.

“Instructions have also been issued to arrest Kahar, the drug mafia, at the earliest,” he said, adding that a special team had been constituted to crack the narcotics racket.