Gaya, June 7: Two persons, including a teacher, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder of Devendra Kumar, alias Chhotu, the headman of Sonhatthu panchayat under Haspura block in the district.

Chhotu was gunned down on Haspura-Pachrukhia road on March 29.

Aurangabad superintendent of police (SP) Siddhartha Mohan Jain told reporters today that Sikandar Paswan, one of the two persons arrested, was a teacher with a panchayat school.

The police found a country-made pistol and a cartridge on him.

The SP, however, did not divulge the identity of the other man who was arrested.

Jain said Paswan, during interrogation, admitted to his involvement in the murder. Paswan is also an accused in the murder of Aarif Khan, who was the mukhiya of Babhandiha panchayat under Obra block in Aurangabad district.

The SP said Paswan took a police team to Haspura-Pachrukhiya road, where Chhotu was murdered, and explained how the assailants had fled following the crime.

According to the confessional statement of Paswan, three persons were involved in the murder of Chhotu. The trio escaped to Devhara, Hamidnagar and Dandwa from Pachrukhiya. From Dandwa, Paswan escaped to Gaya via Goh on a motorcycle and later left for Dhanbad from Gaya.

The officer quoted Paswan as saying he had received a supari (contract) of Rs 1.5 lakh for the murder of Chhotu. However, the SP did not reveal the name of the person who had allegedly hired the three persons for the murder.

The arrest of the two persons came as a relief for the police in Aurangabad because Chhotu’s murder had triggered mass protests across the district with residents seeking immediate arrest of the assailants and blaming the security personnel for taking too much time to catch the culprits.

On May 2, hundreds of people brought out a rally in Aurangabad town in protest against the headman’s murder. The protesters had turned violent and set a jeep of the district administration on fire. They also tried to set afire a vehicle of the district administration.

The Aurangabad (sadar) sub-divisional officer and the deputy superintendent of police were injured when the protesters threw stones at them. The police used force to disperse the mob and arrested former CPI(ML) MLA Raja Ram Singh for instigating the residents.

The CPI(ML) and RJD had called bandhs in Gaya, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Nawada and Arwal districts under Magadh division on May 22 in protest against the police’s highhandedness against the protesters.