Patna, June 9: Fed up with the callous attitude of police, a group of residents of Jalsima village in Saharsa district, about 250km north-east of Patna, allegedly turned to a group of contract killers to eliminate a person making life of women hell.

The members of the professional gang barged into the house of the alleged tormentor, Manta Yadav (28), under Sonbarsa police station around midnight on Wednesday, dragged him out of his room and shot at him from close range. Thereafter, they slit his throat with a sharp weapon to ensure that he was dead.

The six assailants then rescued a 27-year-old woman, allegedly held captive by Manta. The woman, wife of one Santosh Yadav of the same village, was forced to live with Manta for the past six months.

“The villagers were fed up with the illegal activities of the deceased (Manta). He used to pass lewd comments on young girls and women. His activities became intolerable for the villagers when he forcibly kept the wife of a co-villager with him,” said Saharsa superintendent of police Mohammad Rehman.

Rehman told The Telegraph over phone on Thursday that the woman was traceless after the incident. “We have lodged a kidnapping case in this connection,” he said, adding that the deceased had criminal antecedents.

“The police did not find any evidence to ascertain that the woman was staying in Manta’s house,” the SP said, adding that she might have been kidnapped by the killers of Manta, as she was an eyewitness to the incident.

“I have asked the station house officer of Sonbarsa police station to lodge a kidnapping case and ascertain the whereabouts of the woman,” Rehman said.

A team led by a deputy superintendent of police visited the woman’s parents’ house at Tolapad but she was not found there.

The SP admitted that some villagers had apprised the Sonbarsa police of the activities of Manta but nobody ever lodged a formal complaint against him.

“Recently, his name figured in the snatching of a motorcycle from a local resident,” he said.

Saharasa range deputy inspector-general Sudhanshu Kumar said Yadav had virtually created a reign of terror among the young girls and women of the area.

“The entire village was opposed to Manta’s illegal activities,” he said. But nobody complained to the police because of his links with notorious criminal gangs.

The station house officer (SHO) of Sonbarsa police station Ajay Kumar said the motive of the criminals was to eliminate Manta.

“The manner he (Manta) has been killed hinted at deep anguish with the deceased,” he said, adding that efforts were on to apprehend the killers.

Manta’s mother Gayatri Devi, 60, narrated the police how her son was killed.

“He (Manta) was sleeping in a room when some people forcibly entered the room and dragged him out at gunpoint. They shot him on the veranda of the house. They also attacked him with a sharp weapon,” she told the police.

The SHO said the villagers were silent over the incident.

“But it is true that all the residents of the village were against him for his illegal activities,” he added.

BOX HEAD:

NIGHT MURDER

Victim

Manta Yadav

Accused of

Teasing women

Forcing wife of another person to stay with him

Killers

Six contract killers

Elimination process

Shot at

Throat slit