A 30-year-old PhD student was shot dead by bike-borne assailants near a brick kiln in Madhepura’s Godhiyari village on Friday while he was travelling to B N Mandal University, where he was pursuing a doctorate in English. Police said the motive was not immediately known and raids were being conducted to identify and arrest the attackers.
The victim, Prince Ranjan, was the maternal cousin of RJD MLA Chandrashekhar and the son of Sunil Yadav, a resident of Inarwa village under Ghailadh police station. He had submitted his PhD thesis a day before the shooting, according to the report.
Police said Ranjan was riding his motorcycle towards the university around noon when the assailants, who were allegedly lying in ambush, intercepted him and opened fire. He suffered serious injuries and fell to the ground as the attackers fled while brandishing firearms.
Local residents took Ranjan to Madhepura Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. The shooting drew a large gathering at the hospital. An eyewitness, Sunita Devi, told the report that she was cutting grass in a field when she heard gunfire. People nearby then reached the location and a crowd gathered, she said.
Madhepura town police station house officer Bimlendu Kumar said no written complaint had been received till Friday evening. “We are yet to receive any written complaint,” he said, adding that police were investigating the incident and working to identify the assailants.
Ranjan’s cousin Kunal Kishore said the family received information about the shooting while accompanying Chandrashekhar to a programme in Chausa. According to Kishore, the family had been told by a villager who answered Ranjan’s phone that he had died. Kishore also said Ranjan had no known enmity with anyone.
The incident occurred near an educational route used by a university student and has placed attention on security along roads and access points around Madhepura’s academic institutions. The police account, however, did not establish whether the attack was targeted or linked to any specific dispute.
Chandrashekhar demanded the immediate arrest of those responsible and said the state was becoming unsafe. Police said the motive was yet to be established and that raids were underway to identify and arrest the assailants.
