Bihar murder: Land grabber Rai enjoyed key leaders' patronage

Just a few days after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar parted ways with Lalu Prasad, a ward councillor of Danapur was shot dead on Thursday. According to sources, the deceased councillor Kedar Rai was a land mafia and several cases of land grabbing have been registered against him at the Danapur police station, which is some 11 km from Patna.

According to sources, Rai has been murdered in connection with a land dispute as the deceased owned ample amount of immovable properties in the area. "After examining the previous criminal records of Rai, it appears that some land owners might have 'hired' sharpshooters to gun down Rai," a source in Bihar police said, adding that there are 16 cases of land grabbing registered against the deceased and his family members.

"He was closely associated with local MLA Asha Devi and other 'heavyweight' leaders of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)," the source said. Surprisingly, Rai was not a primary member of RJD, but was used to make frequent visits to Lalu Prasad Yadav and other leaders of his community.

Talking to Millennium Post, Patna SSP Manu Maharaj said, "Rai is a history-sheeter and several cases of land grabbing have been registered against him. There are 20 suspects in the case. We have arrested four persons for his murder and confident of solving the case in next 24 hours."

According to eyewitnesses, a group of unidentified men opened fire at the Rai while he was on his morning walk at the Saguna road in Patna. A seriously injured Rai was rushed to a hospital but declared brought dead. Rai's family members alleged that he had informed district police about a threat to his life and had even sought security cover, but the request was ignored.