Patna: Four people have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of Raj Kumar Rai, also known as Ala Rai, a property dealer and former RJD functionary, police said on Wednesday.
Rai was gunned down on the night of September 10, near Rajendra Nagar Terminal in Patna while returning to his flat. According to Patna SSP Kartikeya K Sharma, the murder was the result of a land dispute involving a 10-kattha plot registered in the name of Kamala Devi, the mother-in-law of the alleged mastermind.
On the night of the incident, Rai tried to hide inside a restaurant on Munnachak Road after being chased by armed men. However, the attackers followed him in and fired 33 bullets, killing him on the spot.
The two shooters, Akash Kumar and Aniket Kumar, residents of Malsalami area in Patna City, were identified with the help of police sketches and eventually tracked down despite fleeing the state.
Police also arrested the main conspirator Tarkeshwar Nath Singh and his associate Ravi Kumar, who allegedly paid Rs 1 lakh to have Rai killed, with Rs 10,000 paid in advance. The shooters were armed with weapons sourced from Munger, which police later recovered from a construction site in Ram Krishna Nagar.
SSP Sharma confirmed all four accused are now in custody and further investigation is underway to uncover any remaining links in the murder conspiracy.
