Bihar: 'Mastermind' of attack on Nagar Parishad chairman killed in shootout with police

The alleged mastermind of an attack on a Nagar Parishad chairman in Bhagalpur district of Bihar was killed in a gunfight with police on Wednesday in which a deputy SP and two inspectors also sustained injuries, a senior officer said.

The alleged mastermind of an attack on a Nagar Parishad chairman in Bhagalpur district of Bihar was killed in a gunfight with police on Wednesday in which a deputy SP and two inspectors also sustained injuries, a senior officer said. According to Bhagalpur District Magistrate Nawal Kishor Chaudhary, the accused Ramdhani Yadav was married to Neelam Devi, the Vice Chairperson of Sultanganj Nagar Parishad, who allegedly orchestrated the attack on Chairman Rajkumar alias Guddu ''because of personal rivalry''. Three armed criminals barged into the chamber of Rajkumar on Tuesday and opened fire, injuring the chairman and Executive Officer Krishna Bhushan Kumar. Kumar later succumbed to injuries at a local hospital, while according to Bhagalpur Senior Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar Yadav, Rajkumar has been referred to a facility in Patna where his condition continues to be critical. Chaudhary said, ''The district police had set up a number of teams to nab Ramdhani Yadav, who was audacious enough to open fire on a police team. He was killed while a deputy SP and two inspectors sustained injuries.'' The SSP said, ''Ramdhani Yadav is a notorious history-sheeter of the area. When our men confronted him with clues that suggested his involvement in the attack on the chairman, he took them to a remote village under the pretext of helping recover arms and ammunition and opened fire.'' ''Retaliatory fire took place and Yadav, who was critically injured, was caught. He died at a hospital. The deputy SP leading the team, Navneet, and two inspectors, who have been injured, are undergoing treatment,'' Yadav said. Meanwhile, in a social media post, Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary expressed grief over the death of Krishna Bhushan Kumar, and announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the bereaved family members, besides ordering that the funeral be held with ''full state honours''. Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav also came out with a social media post, alleging that Ramdhani Yadav was ''an NDA leader and a BJP-sponsored thug'' and shared pictures of the latter purportedly with BJP president Nitin Nabin and Union minister Chirag Paswan.