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PATNA: A woman and her son were among five persons killed and a married woman was gang-raped while criminals shot at a young trader and robbed him of Rs6 lakh in separate incidents since Monday night.

A college teacher Ashok Mahto (53) was gunned down by motorbike-borne criminals in Sahara town late Monday night, triggering violent protest by his supporters and local residents on Tuesday. He was posted in a Purnia college. Mahto was returning home from a nearby betel shop at Patel Chowk under Baijnathpur police outpost area when the assailants riding a motorbike fired at him at close range. He was rushed to the Sadar hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Mahto had unsuccessfully contested the 2010 state assembly election as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate. Saharsa SDPO Prabhakar Tiwari said his supporters blocked NH-107 to protest the killing and demanded action against the Baijnathpur police outpost SHO. .

In another incident, one Usha Devi (58) and her son (42) Mukesh were killed while her daughter-in-law Ratna Devi suffered grievous injuries when unidentified miscreants attacked them with hammers at Khanjahapur village under Cheria Bariarpur police station area in Begusarai district late Monday night. Ratna is battling for her life at a private hospital in Begusarai. Usha, an Anganwadi sevika, and her son were sleeping in separate rooms when marauders attacked them around midnight. However, Mukesh’s 11-year-old son Nitin escaped the marauders’ wrath because he was sleeping on the rooftop.

In Bhojpur, CPI-ML (Liberation) activist Jhari Paswan alias Jhari Pahalwan (45) was shot dead at Imadpur under Rajpur police station area on Tuesday. Paswan, who had unsuccessful contested the election for the post of district board member in 2011, was attacked at a tea stall. His supporters blocked Tarari-Imadpur road and disrupted traffic for three hours. The police had to open fire in the air to disperse the mob, which pelted the cops with stones.

A report from Muzaffarpur said an autorickshaw driver, Khakhan Sah (50), was shot dead by unidentified criminals near Rampur Kashichowk under Maniari police station area on Tuesday. Sah was a resident of Mishra Maniari village in Muzaffarpur district . The criminals fired at Sah when he tried to escape after the robbers signalled him to stop the vehicle on the Maniari-Mahua road. Traffic was restored after SDPO Krishna Murari Prasad pacified the protesters.

In Vaishali, a 40-year-old woman was gang-raped by four youths at a village under Bhagwanpur police station area late Monday night. The victim lodged a complaint with the police on Tuesday. One of the tormentors has been arrested.

In Purnia, one Satyam was shot at and robbed of Rs6 lakh at Gulab Bagh under Town police station area. Satyam was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Purnia.

Reacting over the spurt in crime cases, RJD’s Maner MLA Bhai Birendra said law and order, which was once the USP of Nitish Kumar, is no more the government’s priority. “Loot, murder and rape cases have become a routine affair,” he said.

Earlier, former CM and senior RJD leader Rabri Devi had expressed concern over unprecedented rise in the cases of rape and molestation. “Women have been the worst victims of substantial deterioration in the law and order situation in the state,” Rabri had said.

When contacted, ADG (headquarters) Jitendra Kumar said the police officers of the districts concerned were already on their job and trying to arrest the criminals involved in the incidents. “In some cases, arrests have been made. In other cases also, results will be there soon,” he said.

(With inputs from Ajay Kumar Pandey in Muzaffarpur and Rajiv Kumar in Begusarai)

