Ranchi: A 47-year-old hotel owner was shot dead in Jharkhand’s capital on Saturday night after a customer allegedly received non-vegetarian biryani instead of the vegetarian dish he had ordered, police said on Sunday.
The incident occurred around 11:30 pm at a hotel located on Kanke-Pithoria Road. According to Superintendent of Police (Rural) Praveen Pushkar, the customer had initially placed an order for vegetarian biryani and left with the parcel. However, he returned shortly afterward, accompanied by several others, claiming that he had been served non-veg biryani by mistake.
The hotel owner, identified as Vijay Kumar Nag (47), was having his dinner at a table when an argument broke out. One of the men reportedly pulled out a firearm and shot him in the chest. Nag was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries on the way, police said.
The deceased was a resident of Bhittha under the Kanke police station area. His body has been sent for post-mortem examination at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.
Police teams have launched raids at multiple locations to trace and arrest the accused. “We are investigating all possible angles, including whether there was any other motive behind the killing,” said Kanke police station officer-in-charge Prakash Rajak.
Following the murder, irate locals blocked the Kanke-Pithoria Road on Sunday morning, demanding the immediate arrest of the culprits. The road blockade was lifted after police assured the protesters that the accused would be apprehended soon. Further investigation into the incident is underway.