Patna: A 25-year-old man, identified as Mrityunjay Kumar, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Patna’s Kadamkuan area on Sunday night, despite heightened security arrangements for Diwali. The incident took place near the Maila Tank, barely 150 metres from the Kadamkuan police station and a nearby security checkpoint.
According to eyewitnesses, Kumar was chased and shot three times by a group of men. Wounded, he tried to flee and pleaded for help before the attackers surrounded him and fired again, killing him on the spot.
Mrityunjay, a resident of Khemnichak, had gone to meet friends near Maila Tank on the occasion of Chhoti Diwali. His father, Dhruv Kumar, a local businessman, said his son had returned from Delhi six months ago and was learning Tally software. “He had halwa, tea, and breakfast with me in the morning. Everything was fine. Later, around 8.30 p.m., he left home to meet his friends. When he didn’t return, I called him to say, ‘Come quickly, we’ll have dinner together.’ He said, ‘I’m coming.’ At 11.40 p.m., I got a call saying he had been shot,” Dhruv said.
The grieving father added that there had been an old feud involving his son’s acquaintances from the area. “I suspect a few people whose names I’ve given to the police,” he said.
Town DSP Rajesh Ranjan confirmed that the deceased had a prior criminal record and had previously been jailed in connection with a murder case. “The shooting appears to be an outcome of old rivalry,” he said, adding that the accused have been identified, though no arrests have been made so far.
