Bihar: Lawyer shot dead in Saharsa, probe on

Lawyers at the Saharsa civil court raised slogans against the police, and boycotted work resulting in the disruption of proceedings.

A 48-year-old lawyer was on Monday shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-borne gunmen near Bhoura village on National Highway-105 in Saharsa district of Bihar, the police said.

Representational image.

The lawyer, identified as Dularchand Sharma, was shot dead around 8.40am, making it the second such incident in Saharsa in the past five months. The police have not been able to ascertain the motive, but prima facie suspect old enmity.

Lawyers at the Saharsa civil court raised slogans against the police, and boycotted work resulting in the disruption of proceedings. The protesting lawyers demanded immediate arrest of the criminals responsible for the murder.

According to the police, the incident took place when Sharma was on way to Simri Bakhtiarpur railway station to catch a train. As soon as he reached a secluded place near Bhoura village, the assailants intercepted him and fired indiscriminately from point blank range. At least two bullets hit him on the head, while another hit the waist as he slumped on the road.

Locals rushed him to a local hospital in critical condition, where doctors referred him to the Saharsa district hospital but succumbed to the injuries on the way. Simri Bakhtiyarpur SDPO and other police officials rushed to the spot and recovered five empty cartridges from the murder site. The forensic team collected the evidence, and the post-mortem of the deceased is underway.

“The lawyer succumbed to his injury on the way to Saharsa hospital. The police have constituted an SIT to identify the assailants and nab them at the earliest,” Saharsa SP Himansu said, adding that prima facie it appeared to be old enmity, and threats from some rival neighbours.

“Sharma was coming to the Saharsa civil court when unidentified assailants on a bike intercepted and fired at him,” said advocate Uday Shankar Jha, adding that the association will go on an indefinite strike if the killers are not arrested within 24 hours.

Many advocate associations in the state capital of Patna condemned the murder.

“We demand the arrest of culprits, the completion of investigation within a fortnight and completion of trial within 24 hours,” said Shashi Kant, Sunil Kumar and Kranti Kumar of the Patna district and session court, adding that the incident reflects the poor law and order situation in Bihar.