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A local BJP leader and relative of former deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad was shot at and injured at a party meeting being held in Bihar’s Madhepura district on Sunday afternoon to celebrate nine years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, police said.

The police have arrested the suspect, also a BJP leader, and impounded his pistol, for which he carried a licence.

Subdivisional police officer (SDPO) Ajay Narayan Yadav said the injured, identified as Sanjay Kumar Bhagat, is undergoing treatment at Madhepura district hospital, where he is said to be out of danger.

Yadav said the suspect, Pankaj Kumar Nirala alias Pankaj Patel, has been arrested.

According to eyewitnesses, before the function was to begin at Gol Bazar, Bhagat and Patel had an altercation over some financial transactions after which Patel took out his pistol and fired. The bullet hit Bhagat on his waist. He was rushed to the Murliganj primary health centre from where the doctor referred him to Madhepura district hospital.

Soon after the incident, Bhagat’s supporters caught Patel and thrashed him badly. “Had we not reached on time, Patel would have been lynched,” a police officer said, adding that several party workers, including district party president Deepak Kumar, were injured in the fight that broke out after the incident.

Murliganj police station house officer (SHO) Raj Kishor Mandal said an FIR (first information report) has been lodged and police are probing.