B N Singh Pappan
Saharsa : About a dozen armed criminals shot dead a farmer Damodar Singh at his house at village Tharhia under Banma Itahari police outpost (OP) in Saharsa district after midnight on July 19, 2017, when he was sleeping. The criminals fired three rounds on Damodar Singh and then escaped in different directions. Banma Itahari police outpost team reached the village on July 20 morning and sent the body to Saharsa Sadar Hospital for post-mortem.
Dinesh Mehta, son of the deceased, has lodged an FIR with police against nine named and three unnamed accused in this connection. Dinesh Mehta said that he woke up at 1 am after hearing the sound of firing from the room of his father and when he rushed there he saw Chhatri Mehta, Ashok Mehta, Lalmun Mehta, Lallan Mehta, Munna Mehta, Pintu Mehta, Dilip Mehta, Movilal Mehta and Sadanand Mehta and three other surrounding his father as the light was on.
Chhatri Mehta, Dinesh alleged, said that though he had fired on Damodar Singh but it should be ensured he did not survive after which Sadanand Mehta and Munna Mehta also fired on his head. All the criminals escaped in different directions, he said. Dinesh said that before breathing his last father told him, his mother and younger brother that Chhatri Mehta had fired the first bullet on him. Dinesh told police that his father had recently stopped the accused from digging land with JCB machine near his house and was threatened with dire consequences allegedly by the wife of Chhatri Mehta and mother of Lallan Mehta.
SHO, Banma Itahari OP, PrabhashKumar, said that an FIR had been registered by Salkhua police station against the accused in this connection. He said all the accused are absconding after the incident but police were conducting raids to arrest them.