Jailed gangster's sister, her husband held for engineers' killing

Jailed gangster Santosh Jha's sister Munni Devi and her husband Sanjay Lal Dev were on Saturday arrested in Bihar's Darbhanga district in connection with the killing of two engineers of a private construction company, police said.

Darbhanga Superintendent of Police A.K. Satyarthi said the couple was arrested from the Darbhanga railway station, and both were interrogated by a police team.

Both were absconding after police issued an arrest warrant against them.

Munni Devi is pramukh (chief) of Bahedi block, and is known to be close to many political leaders.

According to police, the two engineers -- Brajesh Kumar and Mukesh Kumar -- were killed on December 26 by two motorcycle-riding assailants allegedly for not paying extortion money.

An official of construction company BSC-C&C Joint Venture Ltd. said a man named Mukesh Pathak, who works as a 'shooter' for gangster Santosh Jha, has been demanding levy since August from the company.

The official said Pathak called several times between December 16 and 20.

A police probe indicated the involvement of Santosh Jha's gang. He is currently lodged in Gaya Central Jail.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed, led by Special Task Force Superintendent of Police Shivdeep Lande.