Former mukhiya killed in Samastipur

PATNA/SAMASTIPUR: A former mukhiya was shot dead at his native village Bakhri under Musrigharari police station area in Samastipur district at around 9.30am on Friday. The deceased, Shashinath Jha, 58, was the mukhiya of Bakhri Buzurg panchayat for two consecutive terms before his wife Madhuri Devi got elected to the post in the last election held in the state.Its five-year term ended on June 15 this year. Fresh panchayat election in the state is due in September-November.
Though the police could not ascertain the motive behind the murder, the coming panchayat election may be one of the reasons, they said. Police are probing the case from different angles, including personal enmity, Samastipur SP Manavjit Singh Dhillon told TOI over phone.
Jha’s supporters blocked the NH-28 at Musrigharari chowk connecting Muzaffarpur to Begusarai, disrupting traffic for over an hour. He was an influential person in the area and had been running a bus stand at Musrigharari chowk for the last several years, police said.
The SP said Jha was returning to his car parked on a village road after a meeting with two families to resolve a dispute over a private road between them when a local criminal, Rajesh Pal, and his associate pumped four bullets into his body. Dhillon, quoting eyewitnesses, said the two criminals escaped on foot after killing Jha. “Pal hails from the same area,” he said.
The SP said two separate pistols were used in the murder as police recovered two empty cartridges of 7.65mm and four of 9mm from the spot.
Musrigharari police station SHO Sanjay Kumar Singh said Pal is accused in at least three criminal cases, including a murder case last year. “He had been sent to jail twice. He has been evading arrest in the last year murder case,” Singh said. The SHO said police are trying to identify the second shooter.