PATNA: Four of the eight criminals who shot a shopkeeper in Bihar’s southeastern Rohtas district, in a bid to extort money, were beaten to death by a mob on Tuesday.
The incident took place at a busy marketplace in Koath under Dawath police station in Rohtas, police said. The four men were thrashed with wooden sticks and iron rods. The men, in their early 30s, were yet to be identified.
According to police, the criminals reached a garment shop owned by Arun Kumar Chaudhary, spouse of a local district board member Rinki Devi, on four bikes and demanded `50,000 of him. When he refused, one of them fired at him. However, the bullet missed Arun Kumar and hit one of his friends, Bhulan Chaudhary, who was also present at the shop. On hearing the gunshot, over 50 people, including other shopkeepers rushed to the spot.
“The public caught hold of four of the eight men, and trashed them. They were later taken to a hospital. However, they died while undergoing treatment,” said Alok Kumar Singh, SHO of Dawath police station.
Four live cartridges, a locally assembled gun (katta) and a motorcycle were recovered from the site, he added. Deputy inspector general Mohammad Rahman and Rohtas superintendent of police Manavjeet Singh Dhilon reached the spot and ordered a probe into the incident. Bhulan Chaudhary, who sustained a bullet injury on his leg, was taken to a private hospital at Bikramganj. He is out of danger. This is the second incident of lynching in Bihar in the past three days.