Patna killer lying low in Mumbai held after boast

Navin Ranjan (in black) was on the run after murdering property dealer Prem Paswan in Patna

Boasting to his newfound friends about his involvement in a murder, led to the arrest of a shooter from Bihar who was hiding in Mumbai. The Mumbai police apprehended Navin Kumar Priyakumar Ranjan, 22, the shooter, on Saturday, who was on the run for eight months after murdering property dealer Prem Paswan in Patna. He is a resident of Danapur village in Bihar.

Paswan was a property dealer in Patna embroiled in a 1.5 bigha land dispute in the Habibpur area. In connection with Paswan's murder, the Parsa Bazar police in Patna had earlier arrested 10 individuals, including his business partner, who is the main accused.

The revelation

According to police sources, Ranjan had been in Mumbai for the past 10 days, staying at the Blossom Dormitory in Sakinaka. A few days ago, while socialising with locals in Sakinaka, Ranjan boasted that he was a shooter from Bihar and involved in Paswan's murder. A friend of his got suspicious and reported his comments to the Sakinaka police.

The Sakinaka police with Navin Ranjan

Subsequently, the Sakinaka police took Ranjan into custody, where he confessed to his involvement in the Paswan murder case and provided details about the incident.

Paswan had purchased the disputed land from Anuj Verma, who in turn, had bought it from his cousin, Vikas, with assistance from Manju Devi, the landowner. Manju Devi had decided to sell the land to individuals with criminal connections, leading to a conflict with Paswan over payment.

The case

On January 4, Paswan was lured by Dilip Yadav, his business partner, for a property deal. As Paswan was riding his bike with his friend Lalan Supari, they were ambushed by the gang. Shots were fired, resulting in Paswan's death at the scene, and Supari sustaining an injury to his leg.

Investigation into the incident revealed that Paswan was killed by Yadav, due to the ongoing property dispute. The main suspects in the murder plot included Vikas, Verma, Verma's son Sahil, and Yadav. Police had confiscated three pistols, one homemade revolver, 20 rounds of ammunition, and two motorcycles and one scooter used in the murder.

The police had arrested several individuals involved in the execution of the murder, including Golu Kumar, Dev Kumar, Ankit Kumar, Anup Kumar and Prince Kumar, while one accomplice remains at large.

On Sunday, the Parsa Bazar police from Bihar took custody of Ranjan for further investigation into the Paswan murder case.

PSI Suhas Kade of Sakinaka police station said, "We received a tip-off about the accused Ranjan who is involved in the Prem Paswan murder case in Bihar. The accused revealed to his friend in Sakinaka while partying that he is a shooter and had killed someone in Bihar. On this information we took him into custody and arrested him."