PATNA: An undertrial prisoner was shot dead on the premises of a Bihar court on Friday, leaving top officials of the prison department red faced. The incident took place around 2 pm when 30-year-old Abhishek Kumar alias Chhote Sarkar was brought to the Danapur sub-divisional court for appearance in a murder case. The assailants fired at Abhishek from close range when he was being escorted by a police team to the court room from court lock up. He died of his injuries during treatment at Danapur sub-divisional hospital. Sources said that Abhishek was not handcuffed at the time of the incident.
The police personnel deployed in the court chased the assailants and overpowered them with the help of local people. The suspects were detained at Danapur police station for interrogation. The police seized the weapon used in the crime. It is a suspected to be a case of revenge killing, said Rajesh Kumar, SP, Patna (West). He, however, said the exact cause of the killing would be ascertained after investigation.
Abhishek, a resident of Bihta in Patna rural, was earlier booked in a murder case related to contract killing of a woman in Saran district. Danapur SDPO Abhinav Dhiman said that the case would be probed from all angles. Police claimed that at least one dozen cases of murder, extortion, firing and attempt to murder were pending against the deceased in different police stations in Patna district.
The daylight firing on the court premises created panic among advocates, litigants and their relatives who ran helter-skelter for security cover. Additional security forces were deployed.