Samastipur man held in Surat on charge of killing father, using Drishyam-style plot

A shocking case has come to light in Bihar's Samastipur district. Raghuveer Sahni was brutally murdered in Darban village, under the Hasanpur police station area. Police have arrested his son, Shivshankar, from Surat. He is accused of plotting his father's murder on the lines of the film 'Drishyam'.

According to police, Shivshankar hatched the plot out of anger over a land dispute and over abuse that his father had hurled at his wife. Police say he drew on the idea of the film 'Drishyam' and tried to mislead the investigators.

Shivshankar lived in Surat with his family. He is said to have taken a train from Surat to Bihar. He reached Patori station via Patna and Hajipur, travelled some distance by auto-rickshaw, and then walked about four kilometres in the dark of night to the village. He is accused of entering the house through the back door at midnight on July 26, picking up an axe from the storeroom and attacking his father, who was sleeping outside. According to the allegation, he fled the same night after the killing and returned to Surat.

Despite his attempts to leave no evidence, one mistake cost Shivshankar dearly. To evade the police he had kept his mobile phone switched off, but after reaching Patori station he turned it on briefly to call his wife. A technical investigation told police that his location that night was Patori. About 36 hours later, his location was traced to Surat.

Shivshankar did not attend the shraddha rites after his father's death, which deepened police suspicion. Police finally settled on a line of inquiry, went to Surat and arrested him. They are continuing to investigate the land dispute, the abuse allegedly directed at his wife, and the conspiracy to commit the murder.