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PATNA: The Covid-19 lockdown has brought nearly everything to a standstill in the state except for crimes, which continue unabated.

On Friday, two people were killed and another seriously injured in three incidents in Muzaffarpur, Rohtas and Gopalganj districts respectively, while six people were seriously injured in a violent clash in Nawada.

In Muzaffarpur, a 38-year-old schoolteacher was stabbed to death at Nazirpur early on Friday morning. The teacher, Rajesh Kumar, was attacked around 3 am while he was asleep in his house. He was taken to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.

“The deceased’s wife Rita Devi has been detained for interrogation and the incident appeared to be a fallout of her extra-marital affair with a neighbour. The weapon used in the gruesome killing has not been recovered from the spot,” Ahiyapur SHO Vikas Kumar Rai said, adding, there were at least 20 stab wounds on the victim’s body.

An investigating officer said that the deceased’s minor daughter Priyanka told the police that the couple used to quarrel over her affair with a neighbour, who has gone into hiding.

In Rohtas, a 20-year-old man was shot dead by unidentified people on Friday. The deceased, Sanjiv Kumar, was sleeping in his house when he was shot in the head. “The reason is yet to be ascertained. The body has been sent to Sadar hospital at Sasaram for post-mortem and the autopsy report is awaited,” said an investigating officer.

A report from Gopalganj said three-motorbike borne men fire two shots at a 55-year-old farmer Sadanand Bhagat on Friday. He was taken to the Sadar hospital from where he was referred to Gorakhpur. A property dispute is believed to be the reason behind the murderous attack on Bhagat.

Gopalganj SDPO Naresh Paswan said, “We are probing the incident from all angles and gathering scientific evidence against the culprits.”

In Nawada, five members of Mahadalit community received gunshot injuries when a man belonging to another community fire at them. While one of them is critically injured and has been referred to Vardhaman Institute of Medical Sciences, Pawapuri in Nalanda district, two have been taken to the sadar hospital at Nawada.

SDPO Mukesh Sao said raids were on to nab the culprits, who are absconding.

On Thursday, a priest was killed in Siwan, close on the heels of gang rape of a 15-year-old girl in Saran district. Earlier, two minor girls, were raped at a village in Katihar district while a 22-year-old old youth was killed under Halai police outpost in Samastipur district on Sunday.

Such incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. “Crime of all huesare taking place across the state. Many incidents are going unreported due to the lockdown. People’s movement has been restricted so people prefer not to report the incident to police unless and until it is of serious nature,” said social activist Pramod Kumar.

Additional DGP (headquarters) Jitendra Kumar said, “It’s true that the police are more focussed on enforcing the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus these days, but policing is being done at the same time. Our responsibility has increased manifold. But we are trying to come to the expectations of the common people.”

(With inputs from S B Sinha in Nawada)

