Bihar: Kidnapped Ara jeweller found murdered, 2 held

By: Praveen
ARA: The kidnapped 72-year-old Ara jeweller-cum-lawyer, Hariji Gupta, was found murdered on Saturday. His body was found in a gunny bag from a roadside ditch near Kanhauli village under Shahpur police station area in Bhojpur district.
The owner of three jewellery shops at Ara and two at Patna, Hariji had gone missing on Wednesday evening when he had gone to market on Ara-Patna Bypass at Baluwahiya under Town police station area in Ara to collect rent.Gupta was also a practising lawyer at Ara civil court.
Though the police have recovered the car, used in kidnapping Hariji, from Buxar railway station and arrested two persons, including Ritesh, main accused Amar is still absconding.
"The body was found in a sack covered with a big stone perhaps to prevent it from floating in the drain," Town police station SHO Anil Kumar Singh told reporters. The forensic team reached the spot and collected the sample. Sadar SDPO Himanshu and a large number of police personnel reached the spot to investigate the case.
Jeweller murder: Tenants accused
According to the FIR lodged on Thursday by Hariji's son Uday Prakash Gupta, the jeweller had an altercation with a tenant named Amar Kumar and one Raja, the son of another tenant Najo Khatun whom Hariji had asked to vacate the shop about a week ago. Uday, in the FIR, accused Amar, his friend Ritesh and Raja and their two other accomplices of kidnapping his father.
The news of Hariji's murder sent shock wave among the traders and lawyers. Ara Bar Association president Rakesh Kumar Mishra said this newspaper that it was an utter failure of the police and higher police officers must be held accountable for this tragic incident. "Adequate security should be provided to the lawyers," he demanded.
Union minister and Ara MP R K Singh, who had met the family members of Hariji on Friday evening, told reporters that there was a rise in crime since Nitish ji (CM) went with RJD. "The state government should be alert on the law and order front otherwise 'jungle raj' will return," he said.