Patna: Saharsa police on Saturday claimed to have solved the murder of 13-year-old Ankit Anand, son of a lawyer, who was shot by bike-borne miscreants while returning from school on Feb 18. He died two days later during treatment at a private hospital.Five people, including two alleged shooters, were arrested in connection with the murder. Police said the main accused bore a grudge against the lawyer, who was representing a case against him. The accused allegedly hired two shooters, paying them Rs 1 lakh in cash and promising a motorcycle.Ankit was the son of Anuj Kumar Nirala. He was shot in the Sadar police station area. A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe the case on the direction of superintendent of police Himanshu Kumar.The SIT first arrested Santosh Thakur and Mantosh Thakur from Simraha Ward No. 35. Their brother Pawan Thakur was later arrested from the Mansi police station area of Khagaria district on Feb 26.Subsequently, on the night of Feb 26, police arrested two shooters, Laltu and Suraj, from Bhagwanpur village in the Ratanpura police station area of Supaul district.Saharsa SP Himanshu Kumar said, “The accused were identified with the help of CCTV footage, technical surveillance, and electronic evidence. During interrogation, both shooters revealed that Pawan struck the murder deal. It was fixed for Rs 2 lakh, but when the full amount was not available, the deal was finalised for Rs 1 lakh and a bike. After this, both of them first conducted a recce of the child and then carried out the incident.”On the identification by the accused, police recovered a country-made pistol and an empty cartridge shell from near Sugma bridge in the Banma Itahri police station area. The weapon was seized and sent for ballistic examination. A separate FIR was registered at Banma Itahri police station regarding the recovery of the illegal weapon.“The arrested Pawan had a land dispute with Bhuvneshwar Thakur of the same village. Bhuvneshwar filed a case of attempt to murder against Pawan. The case was registered at Sadar police station in the year 2020. The deceased’s father Anuj appeared as the advocate for Bhuvneshwar in this case. The case is being heard under speedy trial, and there is a likelihood of the accused Pawan Thakur being convicted soon. Pawan requested Anuj to withdraw from the case, but he refused. After this, Pawan conspired in Ankit’s murder to take revenge on his father.”
