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Hazaribagh DC's wife gunned down

Suspected Maoist Communist Centre extremists on Saturday night gunned down Dr Archana Sharma, wife of Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Dr Deepak Prasad near the Bihar-Jharkhand border late on Saturday night.

She died on the spot while two armed security guards and driver of the vehicle in which she was travelling survived. It appears that the killing occurred as a result of mistaken identity. Normally, the MCC does not target women.

The incident occurred near a petrol pump on the Grand Trunk Road near Balua village under Barachatti police station of Gaya district. While Gaya falls under Bihar, the site where the incident occurred is just near its border with Jharkhand.

According to Archana's security guard, the extremists had blocked the national highway in a bid to loot a petrol pump when Archana's Sumo jeep descended on the place.

The extremists may have got alarmed as the vehicle had a beacon light.

Fearing it to be a police vehicle, they sprayed bullets on it. Archana, who was sitting on the front seat was hit on the chest and died instantly while the others had a miraculous escape.

According to the District Magistrate Gaya Amrit Lal Meena, Archana had come to Gaya to receive her relatives who arrived by the Purshottam Express from Delhi.

Since Hazaribagh has no railway station, people normally get down at Gaya or Koderma railway stations.

Archana and Deepak studied medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. They had got married on April 20 last. She reportedly arrived in Gaya only four days back. At present, Deepak is suffering from malarial fever.

Deepak and Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police Shobha Ohatkar are on the MCC hit list. Some suspect Archana who was clad in jeans might have been mistaken for Ohatkar.

UNI adds: One person has been arrested in connection with the killing of Dr Archana. Official sources in Hazaribagh said an outlaw was arrested from the residence of one of his accomplices. The others are absconding.

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