Ranchi: A shooter who was among the five hired to kill a young car sales executive in the capital last month was arrested from Garhwa in the small hours of Sunday and has revealed that Rakesh Kumar paid with his life for falling in love with a Palamau gangster's sister.

Police have recovered four pistols and some live bullets from a house in Lalgutwa, on the outskirts of the city, that the gang had taken on rent three weeks before 26-year-old Rakesh, an employee of Basudeb Motors in Kokar, was gunned down a stone's throw from his rented home in Sukhdeonagar on August 24 morning.

A hunt has been launched for the four others.

Addressing reporters on Sunday, Ranchi SSP Anish Gupta said arrested Himanshu Dubey was hired by one Pintu Dubey at the behest of Palamau gangster Sanjay Pandey.

"Rakesh was in a year-long relationship with Pandey's sister who lives in Ranchi. The gangster didn't approve of the match. In fact, he had had the youth beaten up in May. Since that didn't serve the purpose, Pandey paid Pintu Dubey Rs 3.5 lakh to have him eliminated," the SSP said.

The murder was planned for at least a month, police who have begun grilling Himanshu, said. Two shooters were hired from Uttar Pradesh and two more from Palamau, besides Himanshu who hails from Garhwa.

Gangster Pandey was arrested in another case by Ranchi police barely a week before the murder, but his plan was nevertheless deftly executed by Pintu and his hired men.

"Rakesh, a native of Patan in Palamau, lived with his elder brother Nilesh at a rented house in Aryapuri area of Sukhdeonagar. Himanshu was planted in the same house as a tenant so that he could monitor everything the young man did. He introduced himself as Subodh Kumar and produced a fake Aadhaar card. He claimed he was preparing for his engineering exams. The other shooters rented a house in Lalgutwa," the SSP said.

While only a couple of used bed sheets were found in Himanshu's rented room after the murder of Rakesh, police held him a suspect because he mysteriously disappeared. Later, he was seen in a CCTV camera footage at Piska More.

"Himanshu was present on the spot when three men on a bike opened fire at Rakesh who took two bullets and died before reaching hospital. The rounds were fired by the shooters from Uttar Pradesh. Himanshu was backup. His cut was Rs 60,000. He has confessed to his involvement," the SSP said.

Police are raiding several places along Ring Road like Lalgutwa, Daladali, Tupudana, Nagri, Dhurwa and Pandra, which the senior officer said had become safe haven for criminals.

"These are relatively new settlements and hence, least populated. Houses on rent are easily available and sometimes dirt cheap. I have asked all thanas to keep tabs on rented out property. Tenant verification must be carried out without fail," the SSP said, adding that they would leave no stone unturned to bust the gang.