Van driver killed over old dispute in Vaishali, 5 held

Patna: A 50-year-old pickup van driver, Ashok Singh, was found murdered with multiple stab wounds in the Bidupur police station area of Vaishali district on Wednesday. Singh, a local resident, was reportedly called to a banana orchard, about 600 meters from his home late Tuesday night, where he was allegedly killed.

The police have arrested four people along wither their mother in this connection.According to his family, four brothers—identified as Guddu, Abhishek, Deva, and Sunny—took Ashok to the banana orchard and allegedly attacked him over an old dispute. Police said the assailants, all residents of the same locality, first strangled him with a stick and then stabbed him multiple times.“Preliminary investigations revealed that the murder was an act of revenge linked to an old dispute over banana cutting,” said Bidupur SHO Ravi Kumar, adding that Ashok’s nephew, Karan Kumar, had earlier filed a complaint at the Bidupur police station, stating that the accused had threatened to kill Ashok nearly a year and a half ago.The murder sparked outrage in the area, with angry locals blocking the Hajipur-Muzaffarpur main road in protest. Police from Bidupur station reached the spot and managed to clear the blockade after three hours of negotiation.The SHO confirmed that the police have arrested the mother of the accused, along with her four sons, who have confessed to the crime. “Ashok (deceased) is survived by two sons and a daughter. He earned a living by driving a pickup van. The body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem at Sadar Hospital. Police raids are going on to apprehend any remaining suspects involved in the case,” he added.