Hazaribagh, June 9 (IANS) A youth was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district on Tuesday when he was on his way to undertake the Kedarnath pilgrimage, officials said.

The victim has been identified as Vicky Soni, a resident of Okni in Hazaribagh town. The incident took place near Karso bridge under the Barhi police station limits of the city.

According to police, Vicky Soni was travelling with his friend Abhishek Kumar Upadhyay in a car to Koderma railway station, from where they were to board a train for Kedarnath. On the way, one of the tyres of their car got punctured near Karso Bridge. The two parked the vehicle by the roadside and began changing the tyre.

Upadhyay told police that during this time, two unidentified youths arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire at Soni without any conversation or provocation. The bullet hit Soni in the neck, leaving him critically injured, and he collapsed on the road. The attackers fled the scene immediately after the shooting.

Locals rushed to the spot after hearing the gunshots and tried to take the injured Soni to a hospital, but he had died by then.

On receiving information, Barhi police station in charge Vinod Kumar reached the spot with a team and initiated an investigation. Police have collected evidence from the scene and are scanning CCTV footage from nearby areas.

The assailants are yet to be identified. Station in-charge Vinod Kumar said all possible angles, including personal enmity and criminal rivalry, are being examined. Raids are being conducted to nab the accused, and efforts are on to crack the case soon.

The body has been sent for post-mortem to the Sub-Divisional Hospital in Barhi. The motive behind the killing is not yet known.

Police have launched an investigation, keeping in view all possible reasons.

–IANS

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