PATNA: A
mukhiya contestant Sonu Kumar Rai
of Saran district was shot at and critically injured in Taraiya police station area late on Wednesday night.
Rai was rushed to the primary health centre (PHC) at Taraiya from where he was referred to the Chhapra sadar hospital. His condition is stated to be critical.
The victim’s sister, Putul Devi, told police that two youths riding a motorbike pumped two bullets when Rai was returning home after campaigning. He is in the fray from Madhopur panchayat in Saran district.
Saran SP Santosh Kumar directed the investigating officer to arrest the culprits at the earliest. “The accused will be put behind the bar soon,” he told reporters at Chhapra after the incident.
The election in Madhopur panchayat under Taraiya block in the district is scheduled to be held on October 24.
The incident has sparked tension between two rival groups. Incidentally, this is not an isolated case of attack on the aspirants of different posts under panchayati raj institutions in the state. The panchayat election is being held in eleven phases.
On Wednesday, a close relative of a sitting mukhiya was killed under Musahari police station area in Muzaffarpur district. His body was recovered from a place close to a polling booth. The deceased's sister-in-law, Jayanti Devi is the sitting mukhiya of Rajwara Bhagwan panchayat. Her husband Shivnath Prasad Yadav described the incident as a fallout of political rivalry.
On Sunday, Kanhaiya Sharma, a close relative of the sitting mukhiya of Khajuri panchayat, Ruby Sharma, received stab wound in an attack on him near Pakri village in Saran district late on Sunday.
The incidents of attack either on the candidates or their relatives during the panchayat election have gone up in the state. One Ravindra Kumar Singh, cousin of the sitting mukhiya of Raspur Patasia panchayat, Prince Singh, survived a murderous attack at Sultanpur village under Mohiuddin Nagar police station areas in Samastipur district last week.
The frequent attacks either on the contestants or their relatives have set the alarm bells ringing at the state police headquarters.
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