Another RLSP leader killed, fifth in 7 months in Bihar

A block president of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP), an ally in ruling national democratic alliance (NDA), was shot dead in Bihar’s East Champaran on Wednesday late evening, taking the number of RLSP functionaries killed in the state in last seven months to five.

Barely a fortnight back, on November 13, armed assailants had gunned down Amit Bhushan Verma alias Tuktuk Verma in the presence of police officials, who showed no courage to attack or catch the criminals, instead gave them easy passage to escape.

The East Champaran police said Premchand Kushwaha, RLSP Pakaridayal block president, was attacked by the armed criminals near Karbala chowk Siraha Road in Pakaridayal police station area of the district, about 190 km north of the state capital Patna, at around 8.30 pm on Wednesday.

“The exact motive behind the murder could not be known immediately. The investigation into the matter is on,” said Dinesh Kumar Pandey, the sub divisional police officer (SDPO) of Pakaridayal.

However, some other official sources attributed the murder to the dispute. Kushwaha, who ran a nursing home in Pakaridayal, was on his way to his native village Manjhar when unidentified criminals overtook him and pumped two bullets into his body. He was taken to a private hospital at Motihari where he was declared brought dead.

The incident angered the locals and party workers who on Thursday morning took to the streets, forced closure of commercial establishments at Pakridayal and after passing through the main thoroughfare reached Nehru Chowk and blocked the road by burning tyres at places.

Speaking to news persons at Pakridayal, RLSP East Champaran district president Sant Kushwaha singled out chief minister Nitish Kumar for the murder and said this incident is yet another grim example of lawlessness in the state.

Party workers were unwilling to accept it as a coincidence. They said spurt in attack and murder of their leaders was a well-crafted design to eliminate RLSP leadership at the grassroots

“Nitish Kumar government has failed to instil confidence in the villagers. There are the examples of murder where criminals are calling the shot and moving scot free,” said the RLSP district president, demanding immediate arrest of the criminals and compensation for the family members of the deceased.

RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha has always been critical of Nitish rule, especially in terms of deteriorating law and order conditions in the state. Without putting the blame directly on the CM, he had said on more than one occasion that the murders were a ploy to hit his party hard. Opposition RJD and Congress has attributed the murders to return of Jungle Raj in the state.

OTHER KILLINGS

On November 13, outlaws had shot dead Paliganj block RLSP president Amit Kumar Bhushan alias Tuktuk Verma, 35, and injured ex-servicemen Visheshwar Prasad Singh of Dharhara village during a cultural programme. When the incident occurred, a team of policemen from local Khiri Mor police station accompanied by the SHO were present on the spot but they did not show courage to confront or catch the assailants, who easily escaped after the brutal killing

On August 14, two motor cycle borne assailants gunned down Manish Sahni, a block head of RLSP in Vaishali district, as he came out of the BDO’s office at Jandaha. Five policemen, including the Jandaha SHO, were suspended for not giving a hot chase to the culprits. Sahni was also a district president of RLSP’s extremely backward castes cell

On June 16, RLSP’s Siwan district president Sanjay Sah was stabbed to death by his relatives outside his house at Garahara village under the Andar police station area in Siwan On June 16 night

On April 9, armed criminals killed Manoj Mahto at Garikhana village under Khagaul police station in the state capital. Arun Kumar, an eye witness of Mahato’s murder, was also gunned down in the same locality on October 30