Two persons, including a 25-year-old youth, were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in different incidents at Sonari in the steel city and Goelkera in West Singhbhum district in different incidents past midnight.

While the murder victim at Gitilipi village in Goelkera was identified as Prem Singh Surin (28), the youth shot dead near Domuhani bridge in Sonari was identified as Rohit Paswan (25).

Sonari police station OC Anjaani Kumar Singh said that Rohit was attacked by a gang of six bike-borne criminals close to the Domuhani bridge at around 12.30 am on Wednesday while he was riding back home at Roopnagar in Sonari from a birthday party.

"The murder victim was a member of Vikash Singh Hete gang. The murder looks like an outcome of gang rivalry. He sustained four bullets and was killed on the spot. We have recovered a pistol, a cellphone and a bike from the murder scene," said the OC while talking to The Telegraph Online.

Murder victim Rohit Paswan Animesh Sengupta

Singh said that Hete gang had a rivalry with two other gangs operating in the Sonari police station area, adding that they are trying to detect those involved in the attack.

The other gunshot murder took place on the Chaibasa-Goelkera road about 200 metres away from the murder victim's house and about 120 km away from here at around midnight.

West Singhbhum SP, Ajay Linda said Prem Singh Surin used to stay at Chaibasa and had come home in Goelkera, about 60 km away, to celebrate his son's birthday on Tuesday.

"As the murder victim and other family members were preparing to sleep, five-six men stormed into the house and took all the family members hostage at gunpoint before tying them all except Prem. Then they dragged Prem away to the Chaibasa-Goelkera road where they shot him, " said Linda while talking to The Telegraph Online.

The SP said since the Gitilipi village is located about 25 km away from the Goelkera police station and situated in a Naxal-infested area, the police got the information about the incident late Wednesday morning.

The senior police officer refused to rule out the possibility of Naxals being involved behind the murder, adding that the murder victim would work as a bus cleaner.