Naugachhia: Villagers angry over the suspected murder of four youths, including a national-level volleyball player, blocked National Highway 30 near the residence of the district superintendent of police (SP) on Sunday morning.
SP Sudhir Kumar, however, managed to pacify the mob from Narkatiya, Gouripur and other villages.
"Volleyball players Shrawan Choudhary (25) and Pradip Jha (24) of Narkatiya village had left for Khagaria with Chotu Choudhary (30) and Sourav Kumar alias Karay Roy (26) of Gouripur on two motorbikes on November 13 to play a tournament against a promised fee of Rs 5,000 on the invitation of Pinku Jha, a history sheeter of Gouripur. The four were given shelter at Akha village in Khagaria that day. On November 14, they were put up at Chunchun Yadav's house in Choti Lagar village under the jurisdiction of Parbatta police station," the SP told reporters on Saturday evening.
"The four were served liquor laced with sedatives and shot dead. Their corpses were chopped into pieces and thrown into the Ganga," the SP said on the basis of the confessional statement of Rohit Kumar, a resident of Parbatta police station, arrested by Khagaria police.
The family members of the youths grew suspicious after losing their mobile connectivity. "They approached us and we assigned the case to Parbatta police. The bodies are still missing," said the SP. He added that bloodstained clothes of the youths and other items had been found from the banks of the Ganga in Choti Lagar village. But the motorbikes and mobiles are still missing.
A forensic team has collected evidences from the spot and taken those to the laboratory in Patna. "Prime accused Pinku Jha and seven of his accomplices are on the run," the SP told reporters.
Sources at Gouripur said the incident was the fallout of a gang war in the diara (riverine belt). Pinku's elder brother, Kailash Jha, was a criminal who was killed at Sonebarsa diara in 2006 by his opponent, Rama Sangahi. So Pinku renewed the enmity with Rama and his group. Rama is close to Kalu Roy, Sourav's father.
