A groom in Bihar was shot dead by unidentified persons at the wedding venue late Saturday night before the marriage was to be solemnised, police said today.

The incident took place at Pilapur village under Jagdishpur police station in Bhojpur district, some 50km west of Patna.

Police said the groom, Sudhir Singh, was getting into his car after the garland exchange ceremony when unidentified persons came near him and shot him.

He was rushed to a local government hospital where he was declared brought dead.

“There was little darkness at the place where the car of the groom had been parked. Apparently taking advantage of the situation, the criminals shot him dead,” a local police official BN Chaudhary told the media on Sunday, adding the police were investigating the case.

The murder took place just before the marriage was to be solemnised. The marriage procession had come from a nearby village and every ritual had been completed on a happy note until the incident took place.

The bride’s family members have alleged that the killers were part of the wedding procession.

A similar incident was reported in a village in Saran, a north Bihar district, on Thursday night when a youth fired shots in the air after watching his girlfriend marry another man. Luckily, bloodshed was averted as local villagers fought and overpowered him.

Such incidents are not rare in Bihar. In May 2013, a groom was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Gaya district when people accompanying him stepped out of the car for a few minutes.

The same year, another groom was shot dead in Darbhnaga district during the garland exchange ceremony while another groom was killed during wedding in Vaishali district.

source: GULF NEWS