Lawyer killed in broad daylight in Ranchi

In another murder over a land dispute, a practising lawyer was killed by motorcycle-borne assailants in Radgaon area under Tamar police station here on Monday, police said. This is the second such murder in the state capital within a fortnight.

Police said the deceased, identified as Manoj Jha, was in his car with his driver around 500m from the busy National Highway-33 connecting Ranchi and Jamshedpur, when five assailants on two bikes opened fire at the lawyer.

“The deceased advocate was aged around 50. During initial investigation, it came to light that he was attacked when he was overseeing wall construction on a big plot which was disputed earlier. We have got some leads about people involved in the dispute. We have detained two persons and they are being questioned,” said Naushad Alam, superintendent of police, Ranchi (rural).

As per information, the lawyer was getting the work done on behalf of one of his clients, an educational institution, on the 14-acre plot. The assailants overpowered Jha’s driver on gunpoint and pumped several bullets before escaping.

Earlier on July 15, a property dealer was killed outside a shopping mall in Ranchi. Police have, however, claimed to have cracked the case with the arrest of 10 accused in the case.