Patna: Sarpanch of Bishanpur Beri panchayat under Mohiuddin Nagar police station area, Sunil Rai (40), died early Wednesday morning in a firing incident that took place between him and his relative in Samastipur district. His relative, also his neighbour, was also injured in the incident.According to family members, the incident stemmed from a dispute with the neighbour over the issue of a driver. The alleged accused neighbour, who recently purchased a tractor, was pressuring the sarpanch to provide him with a driver. The sarpanch, who owned several vehicles, refused to comply with the demand, police said.The deceased was identified as Sunil Rai (40), a resident of Matiaur village under Mohiuddin Nagar police station area. His neighbour has been identified as Bipin Rai (35). SDPO of Patori, B K Medhavi, said: “A shooting incident was reported at Matiaur village between Sunil and his relative Bipin. Upon receiving the information, Mohiuddin Nagar police arrived at the village and admitted the injured Sunil and Bipin to the primary health centre. From there, both were referred to the Sadar Hospital, Samastipur. But unfortunately, Sunil passed away during treatment. Bipin was further referred to DMCH, Darbhanga, for advanced treatment.“Medhavi further said preliminary investigation revealed that Sunil’s driver, Sajeevan Rai, who had been driving his tractor for over three years and is also from the same village. Bipin was asking Sajeevan to drive his tractor. When he refused, Bipin started abusing him. Sunil opposed this, leading to an argument between the two parties, which escalated and resulted in the incident.The confrontation between the two began around 8pm on Tuesday resulting in the gunfire, though no casualties were reported at that time. The situation was temporarily diffused following intervention by villagers. However, between 12.30am and 1.00am Bipin allegedly returned and opened fire, which was retaliated by Sunil and his supporters. During the ensuing chaos, Sunil was hit by a bullet in his ribcage. He was initially rushed to Mohiuddin Nagar PHC, then shifted to Patori sub-divisional hospital, and finally to the sadar hospital, where he was declared dead around 3.00am.“Police recovered a country-made pistol, three empty shells and equal number of live cartridges from the crime spot. The police have handed over the body to the family after an autopsy at the sadar hospital. An FSL team is conducting an investigation. Two separate complaints have been filed by both groups accusing more than a dozen people,” the SDPO added.
