Panchayat Pradhan murdered over land grabbing issue: Cops

Police arrested two persons from Bihar in connection with the Panchayat Pradhan murder case of Panjipara on Tuesday. While Mohammad Ali was arrested from Ara Station area, Debendra Paswan was arrested from Kishanganj Station area of Bihar.

Mohammad Ali was reportedly the shooter while Paswan was the driver of the car used by criminals. They were produced at the Islampur Court on Wednesday and remanded to 14 days of police custody by the court. The police have so far arrested five persons in connection with the murder case.

In the course of investigation, police officials came to know that a land grabbing issue was behind the murder. One Golam Mustafa of Balichawk village of Goalpokhar is the mastermind behind the killing. On September 20, the murderers riding two bikes opened fire on Mohammad Rahi, Panchayat Pradhan of Panjipara Gram Panchayat.

Jasprit Singh, Superintendent of Police of Islampur Police district said: “We arrested one of the sharp shooters Mohammad Ali. Based on information gathered from him, we recovered a 7 mm pistol and three rounds of ammunition from the house of one Mohammad Kader in the same locality. Kader is yet to be arrested. We also arrested one Debendra Paswan, driver of a car who had an involvement in this case. So far during investigation, we have come to know that one Golam Mustafa had grabbed a plot of land. Mohammad Rahi, the Pradhan, protested and resisted this and so he was killed.”