6 held for journo's murder in Bihar's Madhubani district

Patna, Nov 15 (IANS) The Madhubani police in Bihar have arrested six persons in connection with murder of a local journalist, a police official said.

The deceased Avinash Jha worked with a Hindi daily newspaper. The police said Jha allegedly had an affair with a married woman identified as Purnkala Devi. Her husband hatched the conspiracy to kill Jha.

Following his disappearance, Jha's father Dayanand Jha and brother Chandrashekher Jha lodged a missing complaint with the Benipatti police station. They feared that the journalist might have been kidnapped.

"Jha used to chat with Purnakala on mobile phone. We have investigated the call details of the deceased wherein he repeatedly made calls to Purnakala Devi, a native of Antrauli village in Benipatti police station. Accordingly, we have detained her for questioning. The victim broke down during the questioning and revealed the sequence of events," said Arun Kumar Singh, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Benipatti range in Madhubani district.

Purnakala revealed that she met with Jha on Thursday and went to a local clinic Anurag healthcare on Kateya road in Benipatti. When they came out from the clinic, five persons, including her husband Jay Jay Ram Paswan, kidnapped Jha and took him to an undisclosed location," Singh added.

Jha's dead body was found in a cotton bag in Benipatti block on Saturday.

The other accused are identified as Roshan Kumar Shah, Bittu Kumar Pandit, Dipak Kumar Pandit and Manish Kumar apart from Purnakala's husband Jay Jay Ram Paswan.

"The accused are being booked under the relevant IPC sections of murder, criminal conspiracy and kidnapping. Further investigation is on," the SDPO said.