Begusarai minor killed in firing

BEGUSARAI: A three-year-old boy was killed in indiscriminate firing by unruly processionists at Dhabauli village under Lakho police outpost of Begusarai district on Wednesday evening.

Police sources said that Siddhartha,

minor

son of Kallu Rai of the same village, was standing near his house to watch the Saraswati idol immersion procession passing by, when a bullet hit him and he fell unconscious.

He was immediately rushed to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead. The victim’s father is a daily wage worker.

Begusarai SP Aditya Kumar on Thursday said the family of the boy had lodged an FIR alleging murder for their failure to meet the extortion demand made to them by some criminals four days ago. “According to the boy’s family, Rs 50,000 rangdari was demanded from them. Altogether, four persons have been named in the case. All the accused are absconding after the incident,” he said.

He, however, said primary investigation in the case reveals that the accused and the victim’s family are neighbours and they had some old enmity. One of the accused, Raj Babu Singh, has criminal antecedents and is also an accused in another loot case, added the SP.

"Further investigation is on and police have launched a manhunt to nab the accused," he said.

Besides Raj Babu, other named accused are Indradeo Singh, Chun Chun Singh and Rajshahi Kumar. They all are residents of the same village.