Patna, Sept. 24: A 52-year-old assistant sub-inspector of police posted in Nalanda was shot dead in broad daylight at a Patna suburb, the fourth such attack on a cop to loot service revolvers since January this year.
RR Choudhary was posted at Telhara police station in Nalanda, around 95km northeast of Patna. A resident of Katihar, Choudhary had taken a weeklong leave beginning today and was on his way to Patna on a motorcycle. Choudhary was in his uniform and was carrying his service revolver when the criminals, who, the police suspect were on a motorbike, attacked him.
The men, after shooting him from a close range, also took away his service revolver. An officer with the Fatuha police station said the incident occurred around 4pm near the overbridge at Fatuha four-lane. "A few people saw the cop lying beside his motorbike. They informed us. Prima facie, two bullets hit him. The police as well as residents rushed him to a primary health centre where he was declared brought dead. His service revolver was missing. Since it was raining heavily, we have not come across any eyewitness yet. The body has been sent for a post-mortem," he said.
Deputy superintendent of police (Fatuha) Anuj Kumar today said: "I am on my way to the murder site. I can comment only after reaching there." The murder site is a kilometre from the local police station (Fatuha).
Another officer posted at the Telhara police station said the policeman's leave was approved only today. "He was posted here for the past two-and-a-half years and was a good officer. He was the investigating officer in quite a few cases. He had requested a seven-day leave, which was granted today. He left the police station around 2pm on his bike. Since he hailed from Manihari in Katihar, he had planned to reach Bakhtiyarpur in Patna, park his bike at the Government Railway Police station and catch a train to Katihar. We are shocked by his murder. We don't have details of his family as of now," the officer said.
"The matter is serious and we are making necessary investigations. It will not be wise to talk about the reason behind the murder at the moment. The case will be solved soon," Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj said.
Inspector-general Patna N.H. Khan has formed a special investigating team (SIT) comprising officers of Patna and Nalanda under Maharaaj.
"In view of the Fatuha incident, I have constituted a joint SIT of Patna and Nalanda police under SSP Patna , to investigate the case, and deputy inspector-general (central range) Shalin will do the overall supervision. The SIT will also examine the previous two cases with similar modus operandi that occurred under Barh and Bind police stations. I will monitor the probe regularly," the IG said.
The murder of Choudhary is a setback for cops because recently the police had hinted at a gang, which is targeting senior officers with the purpose of looting their weapons.
This April, unidentified cr-iminals killed 50-year-old Suresh Thakur, a sub-inspector posted with Marachi police station in Patna rural, while he was on his bike. The criminals fled with the service revolver of the cop. A retired assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Bhubneshwar Prasad Singh (63), was attacked on March 16 at Bind in Nalanda when he was riding his bike. He was shot in the back of his head. Though he survived the hit, the attackers took away his revolver that he was yet to submit.
On January 9, Ashok Kumar Yadav (59), an ASI with Vaishali police station, was found dead, with his revolver too missing. His body, which had two bullet wounds, was recovered the next morning from a field near the Hajipur-Lalganj main road in Vaishali. In this case, however, three youths with criminal past were arrested on June 24.
