Karuna Kumari
Begusarai/ Patna, Dec 10: A former panchayat president of the Janata Dal (United) was shot dead at his home in Begusarai in Bihar late on Monday night, prompting outrage among villagers and renewed criticism of rising crime in the district.
Nilesh Kumar, a former JD (U) panchayat chief, was killed in Peer Nagar village under the Chhaurahi police station area. According to police and family members, a group of armed men entered his house while he slept and shot him in the chest, neck and eye, killing him instantly.
Relatives said the attackers arrived on three motorcycles and fired multiple rounds before fleeing. “My brother had no enmity with anyone. Despite this, he was brutally murdered,” said his elder brother, Akhilesh Kumar. He claimed the gunmen were heard saying they had “killed one person and still had to kill another.”
The killing sparked tension in the village, where residents accused the police of failing to control rising violence. The body was sent to Begusarai Sadar Hospital for postmortem, and an investigation has been launched.
Police, however, suggested that an old land dispute and rivalry may have motivated the attack. “The murderer and the deceased are said to be related. This murder was committed due to a previous land dispute and a power struggle,” said Chhaurahi station in-charge, Jitendra Kumar. He added that arrests would be made soon.
Kumar’s wife, Shilpa Kumari, demanded swift action, alleging that the attackers were residents of the same neighbourhood and had been nursing a longstanding grudge. His father, Rambali Mahto, said four of the assailants had been identified. A local villager, Suresh Das, alleged that the accused, Brajesh Das, had planned the killing days earlier and had procured weapons with money provided by his father. “If no action is taken, he could commit a major crime,” he warned.
