Vegetable trader shot in Muzaffarpur

PATNA: Unidentified criminals shot dead a vegetable wholesaler, Ramu Rai (35), while he was sleeping in a room at Bazaar Samiti under Ahiyapur police station area in Muzaffarpur on Wednesday.
Surprisingly, a truck driver, Dilip Sahni (36), was also sleeping on the same bed, but he remained unaware of the killing.
Ahiyapur police station SHO Ganpati Thakur said police have detained Dilip, but he was yet to reveal any information.
“The businessman was shot from right side in his face. The body has been handed over to family members after postmortem,” said Thakur, adding that the exact timing of the incident was not unknown as no one in the area heard any gunshot.
He also said police recovered a countrymade semi-automatic pistol from the bed where Ramu’s body was found. The pistol did not have any magazine inside it. A knife has also been recovered from the spot.
The sources said the incident came to light only when a tea vendor entered the room on Wednesday morning and found Ramu lying in a pool of blood while Dilip was still asleep beside him.
A source said police suspect the criminals had sprinkled something on Dilip’s face to make him unconscious before shooting Ramu dead.
Ramu’s brother Ram Ekbal Rai has lodged an FIR with Ahiyapur police station against unknown persons. The deceased was a native of Bakhora village under Nanpur police station in Sitamarhi.