Patna, June 8: The special investigation team (SIT) raided the house of one Binod Choudhary at Katira in Ara town on Friday in connection with the murder of former Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshar Singh ‘Mukhiya’.

Choudhary’s brother Babloo is suspected to be involved in the case. Sources said the SIT members raided the residence of Choudhary after a tip-off that Mukhiya’s assailants had taken refuge in a house at Katira after the incident. Babloo, who has criminal antecedents, was not in the house.

This was the third raid in the vicinity of the slain Ranvir Sena chief’s house in the past week. On June 6, SIT personnel had carried out raids on the houses of Hareram Pandey and Surendra Pandey, both residents of Katira, and arrested Anil Kumar Pandey, alias Tantan. Tantan and his accomplice, Sunny, were today remanded in police custody for five days for further questioning.

In a related development, a deputy inspector-general of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Dinendra Kashyap, visited Ara today. He inspected the site where Mukhiya was killed and also spoke to Bhojpur superintendent of police M.R. Naik.

Sources said Kashyap would submit a preliminary report to the investigating agency’s headquarters on the basis of which a formal notification with regard to taking up the investigation of the case would be issued.

The CBI officer visited Ara a day after director-general of police (DGP) Abhayanand called on CBI director Amar Pratap Singh in New Delhi and requested him to accept the Bihar government’s proposal for a CBI probe in the murder case.

On his return from Delhi, Abhayanand said: “The CBI director has assured to accept the state government’s proposal for probe into the murder of Singh.”

The DGP was asked by chief minister Nitish Kumar to personally meet the CBI director and submit the state government’s recommendation for a CBI probe into the sensational murder case.

The state government had recommended to hand over the probe to the CBI after a review meeting with chief secretary, home secretary and the DGP on June 6. The state police headquarters had issued “no objection” soon after Nitish’s announcement to hand over the investigation of the case to the CBI.

Another SIT team is reported to have gone to Varanasi to gather information about a few suspects, who are considered to be close to the JD(U) Member of Legislative Council, Hulas Pandey.

Hulas, who is facing criminal charges, was also quizzed by the SIT members at his New Punaichak residence in Patna on Wednesday night for about five hours.

The SIT is on the lookout for one Abhay, who is absconding after Mukhiya’s murder. Kunal, the brother in-law of the JD(U) MLA from Tarari, Narendra Kumar Pandey, alias Sunil Pandey, was also taken into custody for interrogation in the case. Sources in SIT said Kunal was still in custody. The JD(U) MLA, on the other hand, said he was ready to face probe by any investigating agency.