Four arrested for Begusarai mass shooting

Four persons were arrested in Bihar on Friday, with the police claiming to have cracked the Begusarai mass shooting incident earlier this week that left one dead and 11 injured. Two country-made pistols, five cartridges and four mobile phones were recovered from the possession of the accused, Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) J S Gangwar told reporters in Patna.

The police have also seized three motorcycles and the clothes that the accused had worn while allegedly committing the crime, he said.

A 30-year-old man was killed and 11 others were critically injured when four men riding two motorcycles opened fire indiscriminately on passersby at different points in Begusarai on Tuesday.


Seven policemen were suspended for dereliction of duty following the incident.

"During initial interrogation, the accused revealed that they wanted to create terror in the area. We are interrogating them further to find out if there was any larger conspiracy involved in the incident," Gangwar said, adding that more arrests were likely to be made in the case as the police were trying to track the source of funds of these accused.

Talking to media persons in Begusarai, Yogendra Kumar, the district superintendent of police (SP), said three of the four accused are residents of Barauni and one of Begusarai.

District police officers of Patna, Khagaria, Samastipur, Jamui, Lakhisarai, Munger and the railway police of Jamlapur came together to help crack the case, he stated.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has rejected the demand of opposition leaders for a CBI or an NIA probe into the case.

"Let them (opposition leaders) say whatever they want to say. The police are entitled to investigate incidents that take place in their areas of jurisdiction. Investigations being carried out by the Bihar Police in this case is quite satisfactory," the CM said.