Patna: A man shot dead her 35-year-old sister-in-law (bhabhi) outside her house in Meura village under Athmalgola police station area of Patna district on Tuesday morning. The murder is linked to an old land dispute.The deceased has been identified as Meena Devi, wife of Raghuvansh Yadav. She was disabled in one leg and was hit by two bullets, one of which struck her in the head. Her husband, Raghuvansh, is also disabled and ekes out a livelihood by selling samosas and chaat.According to the family, the three brothers had divided their property earlier. Raghuvansh was constructing a house on his share of the land when his elder brother, Shlok Yadav, strongly objected and claimed additional land. As the dispute escalated, Shlok and his son, Surya Bhushan, allegedly opened fire.It is suspected that Shlok came with an intention to target his younger brother but ended up shooting Meena, who was sweeping floor outside her house. Three rounds were fired. Both the accused are currently absconding.The youngest brother, Paramhans, said Shlok returned home at 9pm on Monday after being away for several days. “There was no recent quarrel, but at around 4am on Tuesday, he came to Raghuvansh and murdered his sister-in-law,” he alleged.Shlok was demanding an extra 5 kattha of land. A panchayat was held earlier, after which he was given 2 kattha separately. Villagers said Shlok has two sons — Chandrabhushan and Suryabhushan. Chandrabhushan is currently in jail in connection with a triple murder case. Police records show that the brothers have had repeated fights over land.Barh SDPO-II, Ayush Srivastava, confirmed that information about the murder was received around 5am. He said the incident stemmed from a personal and land dispute.SP (Rural) Kundan Kumar visited the spot. “A special team, under the leadership of the SDPO, has been formed to arrest the accused. The murder was carried out in a pre planned manner. The brothers had been embroiled in a dispute for a long time. The body was sent to a govt hospital for postmortem,” he said.
