Bihar to hand over Rajdeo Ranjan case to CBI

Under attack from Opposition over the senseless murder of senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that he will send a proposal for a CBI probe as the bereaved family has demanded for it.

“I have full faith in the state police but since family members of the slain journalist want a CBI investigation, the state government has decided not to oppose their demand,” Mr Kumar said during a press briefing in Patna after his Janata ke Darbar Mein Mukhyamantri programme.

“Even I am worried about the incidents which took place in Bihar. I feel the attack on the journalist is an attack on me and no one will be spared, no matter who the person is,” he added.

On Sunday, Rajdeo Ranjan’s wife Asha Devi and his father Radhe Krishna Chaudhary had demanded a CBI investigation after Mohammed Shahabuddin’s name surfaced in the case. His father had said: “Since the person involved in the case has political backing, my family doesn’t want the police to probe. The CM must hand over the case to the CBI.”

Siwan SP Saurabh Kumar Sah said: “Most of those who were detained have been sent to jail as they were found indulging in other crimes. As far as Upendra Singh is concerned, he was found violating excise rules.”

Mr Kumar also expressed his ire over the Opposition’s “jungle raj” barb. he said the term was used earlier during elections “but it didn’t work and now they have started using the term again. I just want to assure everyone that there is no jungle raj or goonda raj anywhere in the state”.

Journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was killed by some unidentified motor cycle borne shooters on Friday in Siwan. Though the police on Monday hinted that the murder incident was an act of organised gang but no major breakthrough in the case could be made even after top shooter Upendra Singh was nabbed.

Upendra Singh is a close aide of Shahbuddin and was arrested earlier in the year 2014 after a BJP worker Srikant Bharti was murdered in Siwan but only after a brief period he was released on bail.

“Most of those who were detained have been sent to jail as they were found indulging in other crimes. As far as Upendra Singh is concerned he was found violating excise rules in Bihar”, Siwan Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar Sah said on Monday.

When asked whether police sees Upendra Singh’s involvement in connection with the murder he said, “We will take him on remand if we find his involvement in the case. Currently we can only say that we are in the middle of our investigation”.

Speaking on the issue Bihar DGP P.K. Thakur said that “We are still investigating the murder incident so we cannot reveal much about the case ”.