Patna, April 26: The trial of the murder case of JD (U) leader and transporter Satendra Prasad Singh started today in the court of additional district judge XI, Patna, Om Prakash Sinha.

Former Barh MP Vijay Krishna, who defeated chief minister Nitish Kumar in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, is one of the accused in the case along with his son Chanakya.

The first witness for prosecution, Girish Prasad Singh, was produced in the court today. He is the elder brother of the deceased and informant in this case.

The witness told the court that Krishna, Chanakya alias Guddu, Krishna’s bodyguard Umesh Singh and Guddu’s employee Gagan Kumar were involved Satendra’s murder. He identified all the four in court.

He had said on May 23, 2009 Satendra received a call on his mobile. The caller told him that Krishna wanted to meet him. Girish said Satendra went to the MLA Club to meet Krishna. From there, he was taken to a flat in Jhula Niketan Apartment under Sri Krishna Puri police station and was shot dead. Sources said Chanakya owns the flat.

Cross-examination of the witness would be continued tomorrow, as it could not be completed today. Sources said in the course of investigation, it was found that Satendra was kidnapped on May 23, 2009 from the MLA club and he was shot dead by Chanakya in Krishna’s presence. After killing Satendra, Chanakya and Gagan put his body in a big iron trunk.

The site of the crime was cleaned up to destroy any evidence. Chanakya and Gagan loaded the trunk with the body in a Scorpio and they reached Mahatma Gandhi Setu late at night. They dropped the trunk in the river from the bridge.

During the investigation, a cloth used to clean blood was found in Chanakya’s flat.

Satendra’s body was recovered from Ganga near Dulli Ghat under Khajekala police station in Patna City with the help of navy divers on June 9, 2009.

The family members of the deceased identified the body.

Krishna, who is out on bail, rejoined the RJD before the Assembly polls last year and lost it.