Arun Lata Sharma
Sitamarhi : Three unidentified criminals shot dead notorious gangster and former Naxalite Santosh Kumar Jha, 55, on Sitamarhi district court premises around 3 pm on August 28, 2018, triggering panic in the area and exposing law & order in Bihar. Santosh Kumar Jha, a native of Sheohar district in North Bihar, sustained three bullet injuries and died on the spot. He had unleashed terror from the behind the bars.
The three armed criminals were apparently waiting for his arrival in the CJM court room where his appearance was due. The moment he reached near the court room, they started firing on him. A peon Santosh Kumar, a native of Vaishali district, too sustained bullet injury and was admitted to a private nursing home in the town. He is a resident of Vaishali district. As the CJM was on leave, ACJM Jyoti Kumari was on the chair.
Two of three criminals fled away by scaling the compound wall but one of them was arrested by the people. Police did not disclose his details. Santosh Kumar Jha had come to court from Sitamarhi jail in the forenoon and waited in the court Hazat for a few hours for his production before the court.
After the shoot out incident, litigants, advocates and judges were terrified. Everyone was discussing the prevailing law and order situation. Sitamarhi SP Vikas Burman along with police force rushed to the district court premises. DM Ranjeet Kumar Singh took stock of the situation as well.
More than three dozen criminal cases were pending against Santosh Kumar Jha in several north Bihar districts including the killings of four engineers in Sitamarhi and Darbhanga districts. All engineers were associated with private construction companies. One of his accomplices Abhishek Kumar Jha was killed recently on the district court premises in East Champaran.