Slain Ramgarh don Sushil Srivastava's son Aman had allegedly hired three young sharpshooters to kill the main accused in his father's murder, rival gangster Vikas Tiwary, on Monday evening, but the police foiled the plan.
The sharpshooter trio were arrested with arms near the state hangar in Hinoo, just 500 metres from the capital's Birsa Munda Airport, on Monday evening.
Vikas, who was flown to Ranchi from New Delhi, from where he was nabbed, safely landed at Birsa Munda Airport on Monday evening and then was escorted by road to Hazaribagh, where he reached around 9pm.
The wanted gangster, in the Bhola Pandey gang, happens to be the main accused in the sensational murder of Srivastava and two of his henchmen on the premises of Hazaribagh court on June 2.
Making the disclosures, Ranchi SSP Prabhat Kumar said it appeared that Aman Srivastava wanted to avenge his father's death, fixing the sum for the contract killing at Rs 5 lakh.
"Aman's aide, a Palamau-based criminal named Sujit Sinha, had allegedly asked Priyaranjan Tiwari, Nishad Khan and Moin Raja to target Vikas as soon as he landed at the airport," he said.
Aman's name had not made a significant appearance so far in the wake of reports that followed his father's murder, though it was known that Srivastava had two sons and a daughter.
Vikas, on the other hand, was at the forefront of the case from the start.
Son of Shambhunath Tiwary, who patronised the Bhola Pandey extortion gang, Vikas had taken over the reins of power last year.
While Priyaranjan and Nishad, both 21, are from Palamau, Moin, 19, hails from Giridih. But, they were staying at Hatikhana in Doranda police station area.
Hinoo, where the airport and state hangar are, also falls under the jurisdiction of Doranda police station.
Two 9mm pistols and eight rounds of ammunitions were seized from the trio.
A sum of Rs 17,000 that was seized from them belonged to them and was not part of any advance payment, the police have clarified.
Moin and Nishad were carrying the arms. Asked about their criminal background, SSP Kumar said: "So far, it appears the police don't have their criminal records. But, we have asked Palamau police to give a detailed report."
Bike-lifters nabbed
Ranchi police arrested 10 bike-lifters from Bero, 30km from the capital, on Monday night, later recovering five stolen bikes based on information from their preliminary grilling. Ranchi SSP Prabhat Kumar said the 10 arrested persons had formed a gang to lift motorcycles from the city to sell them among villagers.
