A routine night turned into a nightmare for Madhepura’s Pintu Kesari, shot point-blank by enraged customers denied cigarettes after closing time. The Tuesday midnight melee near TP College exposes the fragility of safety in Bihar’s heartland.
Kesari, 35, has built his life around his 12-year-old grocery outlet. As midnight struck and shutters rattled down, bike-riding thugs demanded smokes and tobacco. A firm ‘shop’s closed’ ignited fury, culminating in a devastating facial gunshot that felled him instantly.
Present on site, brother Pappu Kesari and aide Shahnavaz sprang into action, summoning kin for a frantic hospital dash. Initial care at the district medical college proved insufficient; Pintu was shifted to Saharsa private facility, where surgeons extracted the lodged bullet amid ongoing critical care.
Police descended en masse, with SDPO Praveen Bharti spearheading the probe. ‘CCTV from vicinity is under forensic review; arrests imminent,’ he stated confidently.
The neighborhood pulses with dread and demands for justice. Protesters urge fortified night watches, decrying how minor refusals morph into mortal threats. Bihar’s crime chronicle—from rapes to robberies—grows deadlier, compelling authorities to rethink strategies before more lives shatter.