Nisar Ahmad, a youth who was shot dead in Bokaro on June 21, was not a victim of mistaken identity as the police said earlier but was the intended target all along, SP A. Vijayalakshmi said on Sunday.

Two persons were arrested from Bihar's Siwan district on Saturday in the case related to Nisar's murder, taking the number of arrests to three.

The arrested duo, Md Sarfaraz (35) and Md Shahnawaz (39), who were brought to Bokaro on Sunday, are brothers and rail contractors

Nisar was killed over a business rivalry, the SP said, but refused to divulge details. What is known so far is that Nisar, who worked as a foreman in a Qatar-based company and who came back to his hometown Bokaro a few months ago, had started working for a rail contractor, which made Sarfaraz, Shahnawaz and a few others very angry.

At a news meet on Sunday, SP Vijayalakshmi said: "Investigations reveal that Sarfaraz and Shahnawaz had tried to convince Nisar Ahm to not work with their rival. But the victim had refused."

Vijayalakshmi added that Sarfaraz, Shahnawaz, Pramod Paswan and Jafar Ahmad had planned Nisar's murder and hired three shooters - two from Bihar and another from Uttar Pradesh - to eliminate Ahmad. "We arrested Pramod Paswan two days after the incident. Jafar is yet to be nabbed. Raids are on to arrest the three hired shooters," the SP said, adding she would keep the names under wraps for now.