Patna: A couple running a tea and snacks shop was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Bhagalpur district early Thursday.The incident took place in Hatia area under Ismailpur police station. The deceased, identified as Ranjan Mandal (40) and his wife, Kiran Devi (35), were found dead at their shop on Thursday morning.The couple is survived by two children, aged around 16 and 14 years. The motive behind the killings remains under investigation, police said.According to their son, Madan Kumar, three men arrived on a motorcycle late at night and asked his father for snacks. When Ranjan refused, citing the late hour, the assailants allegedly opened fire.“The criminals fired around 10 rounds. One bullet hit my father in the eye, while two bullets struck my mother,” Madan alleged.He further alleged that the family called Dial-112, but the police arrived nearly half an hour later. “When we reached the police station, my parents were still breathing. We requested an ambulance, but the policemen told us to take them to hospital in an e-rickshaw,” he claimed.Naugachia SDPO Saiyam Raza, however, dismissed the allegations of police negligence as baseless. He said he had personally arranged an ambulance to transport the bodies.There were discrepancies in the accounts of the timing of the incident and the injuries sustained by the couple. Madan placed the incident between 3 am and 3:30 am, while the SDPO said it occurred between 4:10 am and 4:25 am.According to the SDPO, Ranjan sustained two bullet injuries, one in the eye and another below the shoulder, while Kiran was shot in the lower abdomen.The case has taken another turn with the reported disappearance of the couple’s two-and-a-half-year-old niece, Pallavi Kumari, who has been missing for two days. The family lodged a police complaint on Oct 19 and had been searching for the child. Police are yet to establish whether her disappearance is connected to the killings.Police teams from Ismailpur and Gopalpur inspected the spot, and a forensic science laboratory team was called to collect evidence.“One suspect, identified as Saurabh Mandal, has been arrested and is being questioned, while efforts are underway to trace the other assailants,” the SDPO said.Angry villagers initially refused to allow the bodies to be taken away but relented after police intervention.
