A 42-year-old man was shot dead by unidentified persons near Park Prime Hotel in Morabadi under Bariatu police station on Monday, exposing poor policing in a high security zone in the heart of the capital.

The murder spot is barely 200m from Morabadi ground where the national tribal festival is underway for the last two days.

It also falls within a 500m radius of the residences of JMM chief Shibu Soren, Ranchi deputy commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray, Ranchi senior superintendent of police Anish Gupta, and the regional offices of the Intelligence Bureau and the CBI.

Birsa Munda Football Stadium, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, Ranchi University, Astroturf Stadium and army establishments are also located in the area.

Prem Sagar Munda, who was wanted in Chatra district in various cases of crime and suspected terror funding, was intercepted by the assailants on a car as soon as his SUV reached close to the hotel around 6.30pm on Monday.

As soon as his car stopped, unidentified men started raining bullets on him and fled from the spot.

“Munda’s house was hardly 300m from the place of occurrence and he was known to many residents of the locality. He was rushed to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) where doctors declared him brought dead,” a local resident said.

Officer-in-charge of Bariatu police station Sapan Kumar Mahatha did not take calls from this paper.

Officer-in-charge of Lalpur police station Arvind Kumar Singh, who has been deputed to help detect the crime along with a section of police officers, confirmed the incident.

“We are at the spot and investigating the case. It will be too early to comment on the case,” OC Singh said.

A police officer, who didn’t wish to be identified, said Munda was an employee of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) and was involved in the business of transporting coal from different CCL collieries.

“Besides having an interest in real estate, he had a connection with extremist outfit TPC. Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was looking for his brother in a terror-funding case. He used to move with at least 10 bodyguards,” the cop said.

Sharing attempts to identify the assailants, the policeman said: “We are checking footage from CCTV cameras around the spot. All exit points of the city have been sealed. Call detail records are also being collected.”

On Sunday night, a dispute between two drug addicts disrupted peace in Harmu Housing Colony under Argora police station area, prompting SSP Gupta to order a drive against drug addicts.