DANAPUR, Nov. 7 -- Three men, including two alleged contract killers, were killed in a police encounter near the bank of the Ganges in Sherpur under Maner police station on Friday morning, police said. During the exchange of fire, the SHO of the local police station narrowly escaped injury when a bullet grazed his uniform, police added. Those killed in the encounter were identified as Raja Kumar (alias Suraj Sharma), Bablu Kumar Yadav, and Jai Prakash Yadav (alias JP). According to police, the three were wanted in connection with the October 19 murder of Sanjit Kumar, president of the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS). In that incident at Beyapur, a second individual, Pintu Kumar - husband of the Maner Block head -- had sustained a gunshot wound to his thigh. Investigators also linked Raja to the November 2024 murder of former panchayat Samiti member Uday Prasad Yadav in Akilpur police station area of Saran district. Police said all three men were associates of Shambhu Yadav, a local politician and gangster who is currently evading arrest. However, the relatives of the deceased protested for about five hours, raising questions about the encounter, police further said, adding, they clashed with the police, threw stones on policemen and broke the window panes of government vehicles. Police had to use mild lathi charge to bring the situation under control. Later police sent the bodies to Patna AIIMS for postmortem examination. P3...