Seven labourers, belonging to Dalit and backward communities, were shot dead on Wednesday night in what police dubbed a gang war over sand mining contracts in Nawada district. Around 25 heavily-armed men, belonging to jailed gangster Akhilesh Singh’s gang, first raided Rampur-Ganeshnagar village and shot dead two labourers there. Both the workers were from Nalanda and had come to the area recently. The armed men later descended on the adjoining Pashim Tolla of Dariapur village in Warsaliganj and opened fire, killing five people on the spot. According to villagers, the gang was looking for dreaded gangster Ashok Mahato who had escaped from Nawada jail a few months ago. All those killed were said to be labourers working for Ashok Mahato, who has stakes in sand mining and police suspect the killing was the result of his running feud with the jailed gangster who is also engaged in the trade. Akhilesh Singh is the husband of Independent MLA from Warsliganj Aruna Devi. According to police, the contract for sand mining had gone to Mahto and the five labourers were targeted in retaliation, the police said. ‘‘They killed innocent men who had nothing to do with the fight between the two,’’ said an official. A large number of people from both sides have been killed over the past years in gang rivalry. Last year, 12 people were killed in a similar manner due to gang rivalry. A few days ago, Bihar Military Police jawans were moved to border regions to maintain peace in the village. Meanwhile, the CPI-ML today called Warsaliganj bandh on February 15 to protest the killing of the labourers.
