PATNA: Two persons were shot dead by unidentified armed assailants in Bihar’s Samastipur district on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
The incident took place around 1 am at Namapur Dariyapur village under the Chak Mehsi police station limits.
The deceased have been identified as Prabhat Choudhary and Sunny Kumar. One of them was allegedly involved in the illicit liquor trade.
According to the police, Prabhat left his home in his car after receiving a phone call around midnight. Sunny Kumar and two others accompanied him. As soon as the car reached near a betel shop in the village, unidentified assailants opened fire on the vehicle, killing Prabhat and Sunny on the spot.
Their two accomplices, who were also in the car, managed to escape unhurt. Local residents immediately informed the police. A team from Chak Mehsi police station rushed to the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem examination.
Both the victims were residents of Chak Haider village. Additional police forces have been deployed in the village as a precautionary measure, while tension prevails in the area following the double murder.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Prabhat had survived an attempt on his life on the Samastipur court premises in 2023, in which he sustained injuries. Police said the motive behind the latest killings is yet to be ascertained.
"One of the deceased, Prabhat Choudhary, had criminal antecedents," an investigating officer said, adding that an old rivalry could be one of the possible motives behind the incident.
Senior police officers also visited the crime scene and took stock of the investigation.