Two men had opened fire in the court premises.
A man opened fire with an AK 47 inside the complex of a lower court in Hazaribagh today, firing 30 rounds. His target, gangster Sushil Shrivastava, died along with an aide on the spot.
Two others were injured. One of them died later in the hospital.
Sushil Shrivastava had been in jail for the last five years on charges of extortion. His aide was accused of murdering another criminal, the police said. The two had come to attend hearings in their cases.
The incident took place around 11 am.
"Two men came in carrying an AK-47. They started firing and two persons died on the spot. We are going to demand for security in the court," news agency ANI quoted an eye-witness as saying.
The police suspect it was a case of gang war.
"The Kishore Panday gang has brought the AK-47 and started firing. We have initiated a search operation," Upendra Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Hazaribagh told reporters.
Maintaining security is a problem, acknowledged Mr Singh, saying frisking "each and every one" is not possible given the huge crowds.