Patna, July 5: Catch 'em young, make them kill.

The murder of Siwan journalist Rajdev Ranjan in May has put the focus back on supari or contract killings in Bihar, most of them executed by young men with no apparent crime record who take on the assignment to earn a quick buck.

Laddan Mian, a sharp-shooter and close aide of jailed Siwan strongman Mohammad Shahabuddin, was allegedly given the supari to eliminate Rajdev, a senior journalist working as the district bureau chief of the Hindi daily Hindustan.

Laddan, according to police records, hired a hitman identified as Rohit to execute the plan. Rohit, all of 22, had no criminal antecedents but was fascinated by the phenomenal rise of Laddan in Siwan. Also Laddan's proximity to "Saheb", as Shahabuddin is referred to, prompted Rohit, son of a small-time businessman of Siwan, to enter the netherworld of crime.

" Supari (contract) killers of Bihar are now taking help of youngsters to hit their target. It suits them well because the work is carried out without any hindrance. The hitmen are not familiar with the local people. So they don't mix with the residents and it becomes easy for them to accomplish the task and then make an escape. It not only helps them hide their identity, but also prevents them from falling into the police dragnet," said a senior IPS officer, who didn't wish to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media on the subject.

Laddan, a history-sheeter, had provided Rohit a made-in-Munger firearm and promised to give the lad Rs 15,000 besides a plot of land at a prime location in Siwan town. "That is all Rohit was supposed to get from Laddan in lieu of the work he was assigned," said Siwan superintendent of police Saurabh Kumar Sah.

Ramjanam Yadav, a history-sheeter of Barh-Bakhtiarpur area in Patna district, had taken the supari for the murder of influential Lok Janshakti Party activist Brijnathi Singh, who was gunned down in an area falling under the jurisdiction of the Patna City sub-division earlier this year. Ramjanam was promised Rs 3 lakh for carrying out the work, police sources said.

The interrogation of Shravan Kahar, an associate of gangster and contract killer Ravi Gope who was arrested from Patna last week, has revealed that like in the corporate sector, contract killing is also being outsourced. "There is a great demand for hitmen in the crime world, not only in Bihar but also in other parts of the country," said an SP-rank officer posted in the state's criminal investigation department.

To drive home his point, the officer cited the examples of Chandan Mishra and Onkar Nath Singh alias Sheru Singh, both contract killers from Buxar who were arrested from Bengal a few years ago. They had escaped to Bengal after killing Buxar businessman Rajendra Prasad Kesari.

But more chilling is how Sheru, now around 30, made his foray into the world of crime. When in his early twenties, he killed the father of his girlfriend in cold blood because he had refused to accept the marriage of his daughter to Sheru.

Sonu, yet another killer in his twenties, was given the contract for the murder of Chandan Mishra, who wanted to marry the girlfriend of jailed gangster Dharmendra. Dharmendra hired Sonu and his associates - Santosh Rai, Karu Kumar and Radheshyam Sah - to kill Chandan for Rs 2 lakh and paid Rs 70,000 in advance. Chandan survived and is now in jail.

Police investigations have revealed that gang bosses target youngsters, some of them still in their teens, who have either no or a marginal criminal record to take on the job of killing. Be it Bindu Singh, Shyambabu Gope, Viveka Pahalwan, Santosh Jha, Mukesh Pathak, Fauzi, Bogo Singh or Bablu Dubey, all these gang lords have recruited hitmen who are mostly in their teens. Each gang has about 15-20 hitmen at its command.

According to sources in the criminal investigation department, there are over 20 gangs that are involved in contract killings. A few of them have spread their tentacles in Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Jharkhand. For instance, Chauwanni was arrested from UP's Mau district after his name figured in the murder of BJP activist Santosh Kumar Bhartiya in Siwan.

FACTORS THAT DRIVE YOUNGSTERS TO CONTRACT KILLING

Poverty and illiteracy are the main reasons that drive youngsters to take risks to make a few quick bucks. In the process, they accept meagre offers of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for killing a person. They are given weapons for the contract killing and after the supari is executed, they leave for their respective places.

A senior police officer said the reason behind hiring fresh faces as killers is that most of the known shooters from the underworld are no longer part of the crime circuit. While some are in jail, others have left the state. A few have been killed in encounters. Gang leaders are therefore forced to look out for youngsters desperately looking for quick and easy money, another officer said.

HOW A SUPARI IS EXECUTED

The person giving out the supari usually relies on a middleman. The middleman arranges for a hitman. While a photograph of the target is necessary, the one who gives out the supari will also give an update of the target's location and when to find him. In most cases, the one giving out the supari will also have the shooters observe the target for a few days.

The terms of a supari killing are simple. The one accepting the supari will not ask why someone has to be killed. A contract for a supari killing is only given to those who know the person giving the contract. Over the years, the Bihar underworld has evolved and a supari doesn't necessarily involve big money. In the 90s, Rs 50,000 changed hands for a supari killing, now a contract killer can be hired for a lesser amount.

One reason for this is that some-time criminals can now be easily recruited for carrying out contract killings.

The price to take a life has plunged that low.