SHAHABUDDIN AIDE SHOT DEAD, POLICE VEHICLES SET ON FIRE

An irate mob torched two police vehicles after a young businessman was shot dead in Bihar’s Siwan district in the wee hours of Wednesday. Police said furniture businessman Rashid Sarkar, 25, was sleeping on the terrace of his house when unidentified criminals shot him dead.

The incident took place at Mahpur village under Hussainganj police station of the district, 116 kms north of Patna, they said.

Sarkar was considered close to Siwan strongman and former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, at present lodged in high-security Tihar jail in New Delhi on Supreme Court’s order in connection with murder cases.

Apart from owning a furniture shop at Mahpur, Sarkar had recently opened a showroom of a popular two wheeler brand. The two-wheeler showroom was inaugurated by Shahabuddin’s wife Hena Sahab, villagers said.

Family members of the victim said they found Sarkar lying in a pool of blood when they reached the terrace after hearing three gunshots.

Sarkar was shot on his head and he died on the spot, they said, adding that the assailants had probably used the sewer pipes to climb the terrace and escape.

Protesting against the incident, enraged villagers set on fire the house of Vishwakarma Bind, a suspect in the murder case.

They also blocked the SiwanAandar-Hussainganj road, forced the police, who reached there after the incident, to retreat and torched their two vehicles.

Confirming the incident, Siwan superintendent of police (SP) Saurav Kumar Sah said the family of the victim had accused incarcerated Vishwakarma Bind of plotting the murder.

Bind was at present lodged in jail in connection with a murder case, he added. The blockade was lifted around 11.30am after the Siwan sadar sub-divisional officer and Maharajganj deputy superintendent of police reached there and assured the mob that the culprits would soon be brought to justice.