PATNA: Four people have been arrested in connection with the murder of a journalist in Araria district of Bihar, police said on Saturday, adding that two more accused were already lodged in jail in another case.
Vimal Kumar Yadav (40), who worked with the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, was shot dead at his residence in the Raniganj Bazar area of Araria at 5.30 am on Friday. Eight people were booked in connection with the incident
The four men identified as Bipin Yadav, Bhawesh Yadav, Ashish Yadav, and Umesh Yadav were arrested by the state police on Friday night.
Two more accused Rupesh Yadav and Kranti Yadav are lodged in Supual and Araria jail, respectively, in connection with another case. They have been booked for conspiring the killing of the journalist, police said.
Efforts were on to arrest the remaining two named accused, who was absconding after the incident, Suresh Prasad, IG, Purnea range said.
On Friday, Araria police registered a first information report (FIR) against eight people on the basis of a complaint lodged by the slain journalist’s father under sections 302 (murder), 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), and 34 (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant section of the Arms Act.
Investigation revealed that the accused were unhappy over the de-fiance of the slain journalist, who was a prime witness in the murder of his younger brother in April 2019. He was the only eyewitness in the murder case of the accused's brother Shashi Bhushan Kumar alias Gabbu Yadav, a sarpanch of Belsara panchayat.