Bokaro, March 10: The snipers have their targets in sight. All that they need is the supaari (licence) to kill.

The stage is set for a showdown between two underworld dons over the multi-crore scrap iron trade in the steel town. The gangs led respectively by the notorious Uttar Pradesh-based gangster, Brajesh Singh and a north Bihar-based politician, who runs a underworld crime syndicate in Jharkhand, have locked horns over the annual scrap auction of the Bokaro Steel Plant. The gangs, which till last year combined forces to grab the lion’s share of the deals at the company’s yearly scrap actions, split just before this year’s auction in February. Since then, they have been waging a silent war against each other.

According to a deputy superintendent of police, scrap transaction worth Rs 7-9 crore takes place in the steel town every year. “Till last year, the gang from Bihar used to monopolise the auction with the help of the Brajesh Singh group. The latter provided security and was paid a heavy cut money for it,’’ said the officer. But things have changed from this year. Sources said caste is also playing a major role in the infighting. While the North Bihar don is a Bhumihar, the UP-based gangster is a Rajput. Since the split, the rival gang members have become polarised along caste lines, ruling out any possibility of a patch-up. According to the police, the rift widened after a Bokaro-based sharpshooter Ashok Singh joined the group and convinced the Bihar don to do away with the services of the Brajesh Singh group.

Sources said before the February auction, the Bihar gangster reportedly met scrap dealers at a hotel in Patna to “manipulate” the bids. A businessman from Chandigarh, who came to Bokaro and stayed at Yamuna Bihar Hotel at Chaas, had to return without filing the tenders after the Bihar gang stormed into his hotel room and threatened him with dire consequences.

As information reached Brajesh Singh, he rushed his shooters to Bokaro to settle scores with his one-time friend-turned-foe. Sources said this time, Brajesh Singh has received a paltry sum as cut-money from the Bihar gang.

According to the police, the gang from UP also looted Rs 35,000 from a scrap trader near Ellora Hostel in Chaas. The DSP admitted that the stray incident was a prelude to a bigger showdown between the two gangs.

“We have information that shooters with sophisticated arms have been sent to Bokaro by Brajesh Singh. We are keeping tabs on their movement,’’ he said. Twenty one cases of murder and kidnapping are pending against Brajesh Singh, while the North Bihar don, now lodged in Ranchi jail, faces over half-a-dozen murder and criminal charges.