Lawyer shot dead outside house in Kotdwar

A 50-year-old lawyer in the court of Kotdwar sub-divisional magistrate was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his house in Ratanpur on Wednesday. Police suspect a land dispute behind the murder of Sunil Kumar Raghuvanshi.

Raghuvanshi left for the court at 11:30am and as he exited the gate of his house, two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants shot him from behind. Jagat Ram Joshi, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Pauri said, “We have formed three police teams to nab the culprits and intensified checking at the borders.”

Raghuvanshi was taken to the district hospital and later referred to a higher centre in Dehradun. He died on the way. “The body has been sent for post-mortem at Haridwar district hospital,” said a police officer. The officer said that preliminary investigation suggests that Raghuvanshi was involved in numerous land disputes and had enmity with some local property dealers.

“It looks like a property dispute is behind the murder,” said the Pauri SSP. Police have registered a case against unknown persons under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).