Union Minister Nityanand Rai's nephew killed in gunfight with brother over drawing tap water

A dispute over drawing tap water snowballed into a full-blown gun-battle in a Bihar village on Thursday, leaving Union Minister Nityanand Rai's nephew dead and two others – the deceased's mother and brother -- seriously injured, police said.

The incident took place at Jagatpur village in Naugachia police district adjoining Bhagalpur, where brother duo Vishwajit and Jayjit Yadav picked up a quarrel over drawing water from a tap, Naugachia Superintendent of Police Prerna Kumar said.

“As the brothers clashed, their mother tried to intervene. Vishwajit was shot at and died on the spot while his brother and mother were taken to a hospital. Further investigations are underway,” she said.

She replied in the affirmative when asked whether the deceased was a 'bhanja' (sister's son) of Nityanand Rai, the Union Minister of State for Home, who hails from Vaishali district.

“We have received information (of the relationship)... we are, however, treating this case as we do regarding any incident of this kind. The officials concerned have visited the hospital to record the statement of the accused. Forensic experts are at the site of the incident,” the SP added.