In a shocking incident, BJP state vice-president Vishweshwar Ojha was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Arra district in Bihar. He was shot dead while returning from a wedding. Ojha had been named in police cases on various charges including murder and had contested the Bihar elections unsuccessfully last year. Two other people were injured in the attack. This shooting comes 12 hours after BJP leader Kedarnath Singh was shot dead in Chappra.

Hitting out at Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi told ANI: “Chief Minister is only attending meetings to control Law & Order but criminals are out of control. His will to control crime has come to an end: Sushil Kumar Modi (BJP) on BJP leader's murder in Bihar.

​A series of recent kidnappings and deaths in Bihar have been used by the BJP to back its claim that since his re-election for a third term, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has done little to check growing crime. The BJP has said Bihar is cinched again by "Jungle Raj", a term that was earlier used to disparage the years of Lalu Yadav's leadership in the state. Lalu's party won the most seats in November's election, and is the junior partner in Mr Kumar's government.

Earlier, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav on Monday trashed the "jungle raj" barb, the Opposition uses to attack the Nitish Kumar government, and asked the BJP and LJP not to paint a bad picture of the state.

"After some criminal incidents the Opposition starts saying it is 'jungle raj' (in Bihar). But when the accused is caught and punished they're not seen," Tejaswi told PTI on the sidelines of 'Janata ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri' programme. "They talk a lot about crime situation in Bihar but why did they maintain silence when my brother-in-law was robbed at gun point at Gurgaon on last Wednesday ... Is it an example of 'Mangal raj' in BJP ruled Haryana?" he asked.

Citing the figures of the Union government Yadav said Bihar is on the 22nd position in terms of crimes committed. "A state on the 22nd position has 'jungle raj' while BJP-ruled Rajasthan, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, figuring ahead of Bihar, have no jungle raj?" he asked.

With inputs from agencies