PATNA: At least five people have been shot dead while one person died later over more than a decade-old land dispute at village Lodipur under Chhabilapur police station area in Rajgir sub-division of Bihar's Nalanda district Wednesday evening.
The five slain persons have been identified as Jaddu Yadav (60), Pintu Yadav (30), Madhesh Yadav (35), Dhirendra Yadav (55) and Shivendra Yadav (50).
One Shibu Yadav later succumbed to bullet injuries in course of treatment.
Police said that three more persons were critically injured who were rushed to Rajgir sub-divisional hospital for treatment.
The killings are fallout of a dispute over 25 bigha land in the village between two families who are relatives in the village.
Heavy deployment of police force has been made in and around the village after the killings to avoid any kind of violence.
Nalanda SP Hari Prasath S told TOI over phone from the spot that one side had gone on the field to plough it on Wednesday afternoon.
“At the same time another side also reached the spot to oppose it. Those who were on the field opened fire indiscriminately and killed five persons from the opposite group protesting their act of ploughing," he said.
He said the dispute over the land is more than a decade old. “Both sides are already in court for title suits," he said.
The SP said that till now police have come to know that only the group of people who had reached on the field to plough it had opened fire and no such act took place from the opposite side.
The SP said that investigations are going on and he would be able to give further updates only after a couple of hours. “We are presently involved in handling law and order situations,” he added.
