Hazaribagh, Oct. 26: Kameshwar Pandey (65), the father of a notorious dead gangster, was gunned down this afternoon in Patratu Basti in Ramgarh, in a sequel to a blood-soaked saga involving two powerful warring extortion gangs of the district.

As Kameshwar, the elderly father of slain gang leader Bhola Pandey, was shot thrice in the head at point-blank range by three bike-borne men near Ram Janki Mandir in the crowded weekly market Patratu Bazaar, bystanders chased the trio.

High drama followed, with someone from the chasing mob nabbing one, beating him up and even shooting him dead. Police caught the second while the third managed to disappear into a grassy field.

Kameshwar's brutal shooting is seen as a revenge of the murder of rival gangster Sushil Srivastava, gunned down publicly in Hazaribagh court this June.

Gangster Vikas Tiwary, who was arrested later for allegedly masterminding Srivastava's murder, is one of Bhola's nephews and Kameshwar's grand-nephew.

Incidentally, Bhola had been murdered in 2010 by Srivastava, who had once been his trusted henchman. Srivastava had then formed his own gang.

Ramgarh DSP Virendra Choudhary said that after murdering Kameshwar, the three sharpshooters steered the bike from Shahid Chowk to Rajda Road but met with an accident with a trekker.

"The trio left the bike and started running towards an open field followed by a mob of villagers in hot pursuit," the DSP said. "But, villagers managed to catch one. After he was beaten up mercilessly, someone from the crowd shot him dead. We caught one of them. The third managed to hide taking advantage of the tall grass and vegetation on a vast field."

Kameshwar reportedly ran a small hotel and was seen in Patratu at times.

But, after Bhola's death, and more after the 2014 murder of Bhola's successor and nephew Kishore, Vikas's cousin, Kameshwar had become a recluse.

The body has been sent to Hazaribagh sadar hospital for post-mortem.