A property dispute turned deadly in Bihar's Samastipur district after a son traveled around 2000 kilometers from Surat, Gujarat, to murder his father in the dead of night before fleeing back. The suspect orchestrated the fatal attack with meticulous care, attempting to avoid digital surveillance and leave no trace behind. However, a single brief activation of his mobile phone at a local railway station gave investigators the critical breakthrough they needed. Police leveraged technical surveillance to trace the suspect to Surat, where he was formally arrested.
Midnight Attack Outside the Family Home
The violent incident took place in Darwa village, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Halai police station in Samastipur. The victim, identified as Raghuveer Sahni, was asleep outside his house door late on the night of July 26 when the assailant struck. Armed with an axe kept inside the residence, the attacker struck Raghuveer Sahni multiple times on the head, killing him on the spot. After delivering the fatal blows, the attacker left the weapon behind on the premises and escaped under the cover of darkness. Upon receiving information regarding the crime the following morning, local police officers rushed to the location to secure the area. The body was sent for post-mortem examination, and a team from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) examined the scene closely for physical evidence. Preliminary scrutiny led investigating officers to suspect that an outsider was not responsible, pointing instead toward someone from the victim's immediate family circle.
Simmering Feud Over Land Sale and Verbal Abuse
Following this suspicion, law enforcement began tracking the movements and backgrounds of the victim's close relatives. During technical analysis, investigators turned their attention to Raghuveer Sahni's son, Shiv Shankar. According to police records, a bitter dispute had been raging between Shiv Shankar and his father over selling family land. Tensions had escalated further because the father allegedly hurled verbal abuses at Shiv Shankar and his wife. Weary of continuous domestic confrontations and worsening hostility, Shiv Shankar had previously relocated to Surat, Gujarat, with his wife to live and work away from the family home.
Plotting the Murder Inspired by the Film Drishyam
Police revealed that during his time living in Surat, Shiv Shankar watched the thriller film Drishyam and drew inspiration from its plot to plan his father's murder. Determined to avoid leaving an electronic trail that could reveal his travel history, he switched off his mobile phone before starting the journey. According to investigators, Shiv Shankar boarded a train from Surat and reached Patna. From the state capital, he traveled to Hajipur and then took an auto-rickshaw to Patori station. He hired another auto-rickshaw to reach Jorpura and subsequently covered the final stretch of around four kilometers on foot, arriving at his ancestral home at approximately 12 midnight. Shiv Shankar entered the house through the back door, picked up an axe from a storage room, and attacked his sleeping father outside, inflicting fatal head wounds.
Flaw in the Plan at Patori Railway Station
Immediately after the fatal assault, the suspect fled the village during the night and headed toward Patori railway station to catch his return transport. While he had kept his device powered down throughout the journey to mislead investigators, he made a critical mistake upon reaching Patori station. He briefly turned his mobile phone on to place a call to his wife. Once the call finished, he immediately powered off the handset again. That fleeting connection to local cellular towers became the primary clue for the investigation. Technical analysis of network data identified the phone's presence at Patori station on the night of the murder. Roughly 36 hours later, the identical mobile handset was detected active in Surat. Investigators examined the call detail records generated during that short window at Patori station, linking the device conclusively to Shiv Shankar and placing him near the scene of the crime at the crucial hour.
Apprehension in Surat and Absence from Funeral Rites
Armed with digital evidence and tower records, a police team apprehended Shiv Shankar in Surat. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the killing and admitted that he had watched Drishyam prior to committing the crime to devise a way to deceive law enforcement. Investigators also noted that suspicions had heightened because the suspect failed to attend his father's post-death rituals and shraddh ceremonies. A brief lapse in mobile phone discipline dismantled his carefully constructed cover, solving the cross-state murder investigation that spanned 2000 kilometers from Gujarat to Bihar.
