Patna, Feb 17: Barely a day after the killing of seven upper caste persons in Bihar's Nawada district, unidentified gunmen shot dead five people under Barh police station in Patna district today, DIG (provision), Rituraj told here. Rituraj said the gunmen fired at villagers at Milki Simaria village in the jurisdiction of Milki Simaria Garh police station in the crime-infested low-lying areas in Mokama killing the five.
Those killed were identified as H Mahato (60), Suman Mahato (60), Rajendra Mahato (53), Sukhdeo Mahato (50) and Dasrath (25).
Rituraj denied that the killing was a retaliatory strike against the Ashok Mahato gang for yesterday's killing of seven upper-caste people in Nawada.
"We prima facie establish that today's incident is a sequel to a land dispute," he said.
Yesterday's killings had sparked off protests with the NDA observing a total bandh in the district today.
Top officials of Patna district have rushed to the spot.
A combing operation has been launched to nab the killers. Bureau Report