Gangster shot dead on Bihar court premises

NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL and kingpin of an extortion gang in North Bihar, Bablu Dubey, 31, who faced more than two dozen cases of murder and kidnapping in East and West Champaran districts, was shot dead on Betia court premises on Thursday.

He was named in the murder of two road construction engineers in Darbhanga and kidnapping of Nepalese businessman Suresh Kedia, who was released reportedly after paying a heavy ransom to the Dubey gang. Dubey was once the right-hand man of dreaded gangster Santosh Jha.

When Dubey was coming out after being produced in the court, two unidentified persons entered the premises on a motorbike at around 11.30 am and fired five bullets at him from a close range, police said. He died on the way to a hospital.

Dubey, who was lodged in Motihari Jail since December 2013, was shifted to Betia Jail on April 11 to complete the hearing of a murder case against him. A resident of Siswa Kharar village of East Champaran district, Dubey was brought to the court from Betia jail on Thursday morning in connection with the Jaalwahar Sah murder case. Motihari Jail Superintendent Manoj Kumar saiddubeywasnamedin54cases and had been acquitted in 30.

West Champaran SP Vinay Kumar said, “Unidentified assailants fired at Dubey from close range. We are conducting raids to nab the criminals. Inter-district border is being monitored.”

Dubey was arrested from Adapur police station area of East Champaran district in 2013 when he was trying to escape to Nepal. A longtime conduit of Santosh Jha, Dubey had fallen out with the gangster in an arms deal. Dubey had grabbed media attention when his name surfaced in the Suresh Kedia kidnapping case.