by Alok Mohit
PATNA: Police on Friday claimed to have cracked the Begusarai mass shooting case with the arrest of four persons.
The police said they had arrested Sumit, Yuvraj, Keshav Kumar alias Naga and Arjun, in connection with the incident that left one dead and ten others injured in Begusarai district, 127 km east of state capital Patna, on Tuesday, September 13.
Addressing a press conference, Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Yogendra Kumar said Sumit and Yuvraj were arrested near the court complex in Begusarai town on Thursday when they were trying to meet a lawyer. “Later in the day, Arjun was apprehended from relative’s place in the town. Keshav was arrested from Jhajha railway station, where he had gone to board a Ranchi-bound train onThursday night,” he said.
The SP said all the accused were residents of Begusarai. “They are all history-sheeters. Primary interrogation has revealed that the motive behind the random shooting was to create terror and establish gang supremacy in the area. Some other people are also involved in the crime and raids are being conducted to arrest them,” the SP added.
Kumar said two country-made pistols and five cartridges had been recovered from the arrested men. The motorcycles used in the crime and the clothes the accused were wearing while firing at innocent people had also been seized, he said.
One person was killed and 10 others were injured when motorcycle-borne criminals had opened indiscriminate firing at pedestrians in crowded areas along NH 31 and NH 28 in Begusarai district on Tuesday.
The gunmen arrived on a motorcycle at Malhipur Chowk in Begusarai town around 5pm and opened fire targeting shops in the busy area. Panicked people started running for their lives, while shopkeepers fled leaving their shops open.
The assailants then went to Barauni Thermal Chowk, Barauni, Teghra, Bachwara and Rajendra Bridge, and continued firing at people.
Soon after the incident, chief minister Nitish Kumar had asked the director general of police (DGP) inquire into the firing and promised a through probe into the case from all possible angles.
