MEN ON BIKE GO ON SHOOTING SPREE IN SIWAN, TWO DEAD, TWO INJURED

In an incident that has left the police baffled and locals terrified, two men riding a motorcycle went on a shooting spree in a bustling locality at Maharajganj in Siwan district of Bihar on Thursday afternoon, leaving two people dead and two others injured, before speeding away, police and eyewitnesses said.

Maharajganj is about 140 km from the state’s capital Patna.

Around 3 pm, a group of people were on their way to Ramprit More when the assailants arrived and started shooting randomly in all directions, including in the air, forcing people to run for cover.

“It is not clear who the assailants were and why they fired randomly at the people,” Polastu Kumar, subdivisional police officer of Maharajganj, said, adding that a manhunt has been launched. Police are looking for any CCTV footage, he said.

According to eyewitnesses who were not willing to be identified, the assailants first shot one Mohammad Arman Mansoori, who died on the spot. Later, they shot another youth, later identified as Sudama Yadav, who was declared dead at Sadar Hospital in Siwan. The assailants then shot at another man, identified as Ashok Patel of Raghunathpur. They then shot at a man driving a car which blocked their way and sped away. The injured, identified as Manish Kumar of Ragarganj, has been taken to Sadar Hospital.

Mohammad Yusuf, who was with Arman, said the assailants seemed to be shooting randomly without any reason. “They were shooting whoever they were looking at. Sometimes, they were shooting in the air. The young man riding pillion had three pistols. Everyone was running for cover. I saw three people fall after being shot,” he said.

The police said eyewitnesses were not able to share any details about the shooters. “There is no motive known to us as of now,” said Polastu.

Siwan’s superintendent of police Kumar Abhinav said forensic experts had reached the spot to collect samples and a probe was on.