33 years later, a conviction in Bihar’s Vaishali district
The 85-year-old Deep Rai hardly remembers anything about the incident that took place 33 years ago. Sleeping on a charpai (cot) in a dhoti, he
The 85-year-old Deep Rai hardly remembers anything about the incident that took place 33 years ago. Sleeping on a charpai (cot) in a dhoti, he stares at the ceiling. His house is in Jurawanpur village, in Bihar’s Vaishali district. Sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by the Vaishali Court on June 2, 2026, Deep is one of the five accused who have been convicted in an attempt to murder case and violations of the Arms Act. His daughter, Uma Devi, 50, tries to keep him cool and stirs the hot air gently with a hand-fan. There is not much relief from the 40°C heat outside. The house holds just the father and daughter, with villagers dropping in to visit. His wife Munnar Devi, died 15 years ago at 70, and his son and daughter-in-law, in their 50s, now look after Deep. He cannot walk anymore, crippled by arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease, and spends the day mostly asleep on the cot. Still, in the manner of those who rise with the sun, he wakes at 5 a.m. Uma says he has only a few teeth left so he is mostly on a liquid diet of sattu (roasted gram powder), milk, and rice mashed in its starch water. On the day of the verdict, his son and a few villagers managed to get him into an auto, and took him to the court in Hajipur, nearly 35 kilometres from the village. The court gave Deep bail the same day, and the family plans to appeal to the High Court. In December 2025, the then Deputy Chief Minister, now Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary had said that there were over 1.8 million pending cases in various courts across Bihar. The family and village When asked about committing the crime, Deep shakes his head, saying no. “Maine kuch nahi kiya,” (I have not done anything), he says, his voice feeble, almost choking. Uma is quick to intervene: “He has not done anything wrong in his entire life, and his name was unnecessarily dragged into this case.
It was really painful for him when he was being taken to court. Do you think that at this age, he can even move an inch? Despite that, he had to do so due to a court order.” His neighbour, who joins the conversation, says Deep had not been out of his village for several years. He says that the day of the judgment, Deep needed help to climb nearly 40 stairs to reach the first floor courtroom. The family is dependent on farming and also earns a living by selling milk from their two cows and two buffaloes. The house, constructed 10 years ago, lies incomplete and unpainted, and just two rooms have an electricity connection. They still cook food using cow dung cakes. The village, with a population of about 8,000, is situated in the taal (wetland) and diara (riverine) areas, and is prone to flooding. The roads are crumbling and there is heavy load shedding. The village falls under the Raghopur assembly constituency, represented by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly. The dispute and trial On December 10, 1992, in the Jurawanpur village in Vaishali district, a dispute started over mirrors being spread across a pathway. While details of why this was being done are scarce now, it is common practice in Bihar’s villages to upset the lives of people they are in disputes with. According to the court’s verdict, Adalat Rai was at his doorstep when nine people, including Deep, began laying glass on the road. One of the nine had purchased land from a man whose house was on the same road as Adalat’s. Adalat and Udesh Rai, a fellow villager, objected. Deep abused them and left. He and the others later returned armed with guns. Four peosons were hit by bullets, with Adalat getting shot in his hand, leg, and face. His aunt was also injured when she tried to intervene. Medical reports confirmed Adalat’s bullet injury.
The then Medical Officer at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Jurawarpur, Dr. Kamal Kumar Singh, had stated that a lacerated wound had been caused by a country-made gun. The FIR was registered on December 11, 1992, and the chargesheet was filed on March 18, 1993. Ten eyewitnesses from the prosecution’s side were examined, including the doctor who treated the injured victims. The prosecution also produced evidence to support their point, including a report of a fired bullet, and the The court sentenced four more men in the case. The case originally involved seven accused men, but by the time the court delivered its verdict, two of them had died. Four others, two in their 50s and two in their 60s, were also sentenced to imprisonment, but for 10 years. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Jurawanpur Police Station, Abhishek Ojha, found out about the case when the verdict was announced. “I got to know about it when his video went viral on social media,” Ojha says. Survivor fear Fifteen years ago, Adalat, 60, left Jurawanpur village. He lives with his family in a village on the outskirts of Patna district, out of fear. Adalat refuses to share many details of his family members, asserting that the accused family may try to harm him in revenge. “I do not visit my village any more. One of my relatives stays in that house just as a caretaker. Deepi’s family is still searching for me, and after the court verdict, the family members of the other accused, who have been jailed, may try to harm me,” he says, adding that he did not go to court when the judgment was announced, out of fear. He still gets goosebumps when he thinks of the shooting. “The shots were fired from a close range, and blood fell all around. They were all our neighbours. Deep’s house is just 50 metres away from my house,” he says. He asserts that he will never return to the village. Shyambabu Rai, the public prosecutor in the Vaishali Civil Court, says that this case is a message for society.
“After 33 years, the victims got the relief. People will know that if anyone commits a crime out of provocation and anger, they will not be spared and will be caught sooner or later,” he says. However, he says he urged the judge to consider Deep’s age before the verdict. Asked about the reason for the delay in the case, Rai says, “People take undue advantage of the law and intentionally delay the case by submitting a petition under Section 317 of the Criminal Procedure Code, corresponding to Section 355 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. This is an application in criminal courts to excuse the attendance of an accused person for a specific hearing and allow their lawyer to represent them instead, with the lawyer taking another date for appearance. “In most cases, the accused gets time to plan or thinks witnesses may disappear.” Defence advocate Anil Kumar, who represented Deep, refuses to comment, and asserts that his client has the legal right to approach the High Court for relief. Raghopur’s history of clashes Raghopur is seen by the police as a bad-land. In January 2006, a pregnant woman and her five children were burnt alive over the issue of buffalo stealing. The place is also known for the use of illegal weapons and sand mining. The high-profile murder of United Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Brijnath Singh took place during rivalry between two gangs in Raghopur in February 2016. Ever since prohibition was implemented in Bihar, police say Raghopur remains active in liquor manufacture and smuggling. It is difficult to catch people because the riverine area is often flooded and people hide easily in the paddy fields. Most homes have country-made pistols, they say. No one here wants to speak about the 33-year-old incident, but in its verdict, the court accepted that the trial had taken a long time. amit.bhelari@thehindu.co.in
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