5 juvenile, who killed 2, were addicted to cough syrup

In a first-of-its-kind incident, five children staying in a juvenile home gunned down the house warden and also killed one of their inmates in Purnia on Wednesday.

Soon after the killing, all the five accused fled from the remand home, situated at Prabhat Colony.

Hours before the killing, warden Vijendra Kumar had snubbed the five inmates, all aged between 15 and 17 years, for possessing 10 bottles of cough syrup. One of the boys, Saroj, had complained to the warden that these children used to procure cough syrup as they wanted to get a taste of ‘nasha’ (intoxication).

“The warden, during a checking drive, found 10 bottles of cough syrup from one of the boy's bag. He not only reprimanded them but ordered they be shifted to Sheikhpura Remand Home on Thursday,” said the guard Sooraj Kumar.

Infuriated over the order to shift them elsewhere, the boys on Wednesday gunned down Vijendra by shooting him in his head while Saroj was shot in the chest. Both died on the spot.

The cops, investigating the matter, are trying to find out how the boys procured a country-made pistol in a juvenile home.