Scribe kin ask for CBI probe

Rajdev Ranjan

Rakesh K. Singh and Dev Raj, TT, Siwan/Patna, May 14: Family members of the slain journalist, Rajdev Ranjan, demanded a CBI investigation today even as police detained two suspects from a brick kiln on the outskirts of Siwan town.

Rajdev, the Siwan district bureau chief of Hindi daily Hindustan, was shot dead last evening near Andar Dhala close to a fruit market on Station Road while riding a motorcycle, just a day before his 17th marriage anniversary.

As Rajdev's last rites were performed amid a pall of gloom at his native Hakam village, around 3km north of Siwan town on the banks of the Daha (Banganga) river, his 80-year-old father Radha Chaudhary requested all visitors with folded hands and tears in his eyes to ensure CBI investigation in the case.

"CBI doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani kar deta hai (The CBI investigates in a transparent manner). The government should recommend a CBI probe. My son had no enmity with anybody. He just did his job sincerely. He has been killed. He will not return, but I want justice for him," Radha said.

Rajdev's brother Kalicharan Chaudhary was more vocal about the incident, saying: "The entire incident reeks of political conspiracy. He (Rajdev) went out of office after receiving a phone call and was killed. We fear that the administration will cover-up the case, hence a CBI probe is necessary to crack it."

The journalist's wife, who has taken ill after the incident, is under constant medical care at her home.

Jagendra Singh (left), a Shahjahanpur based journalist
was burnt alive by a police officer for a Facebook post against
Uttar Pradesh Minister Ram Murti Verma.

Rajdev (46) was known for his hard-hitting stories against jailed gangster and former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin. During his career of 25 and odd years, Rajdev bore the brunt for his fearless reporting earlier too, including a merciless thrashing by goons just near his office in 2005 and a shooting attempt in 1994, which he survived. These were also the years when Shahabuddin's writ ran large in Siwan district.

Director-general of police P.K. Thakur said: "Two suspects have been detained and they are being interrogated regarding the murder. Our investigation is on the right track and we have specific clues, which may help crack the case. We are also looking into the motive behind the crime." Thakur added that a select team from STF and another one consisting of forensic science experts have been sent to Siwan from Patna.

The suspects, caught from the brick kiln, are being interrogated by senior officers at Panchrukhi police station till this evening. Muzaffarpur zonal inspector-general of police Paras Nath and Saran range deputy inspector-general of police Ajit Kumar Rai are also camping in Siwan.

"The detained persons include one Upendra, who has a long history of crime. He had earlier been jailed on murder charges too. The duo belong to a gang. It seems that fearless journalism of Rajdev had hurt or put some persons into trouble," Ajit said, declining to divulge other details of the detainees.

The police contend that the murder indicates a professional hit as the criminals fired two shots - one hit Rajdev between the eyebrows while the hit him in the neck. "The area in the evening has very less light. Rajdev was moving on a bike with its headlight switched on, which must have blurred his features as well. The precision shooting in these circumstances point towards involvement of sharpshooters," a police source said.

The suspicion that the killing was a well-planned one also got enhanced after the local police officers found that they were unable to view the footage from CCTV cameras installed outside two shops on the road on which Rajdev was killed. They suspect that the footage has been erased. However, the officers have seized the hard disks of the computers in which the footage have recorded. "We have sent the hard disks to Forensic Science Lab in Patna to ascertain whether the footage is there or not, and retrieve if possible. Our technical teams have mounted surveillance and are applying technological methods to crack the case," Paras Nath said.

Rajdev had written against land mafia recently and the police are ascertaining whether they could also have committed the murder. They are also probing whether the crime is an outcome of any love affair. The police sources said Rajdev figured in a hit list of 23 issued from Siwan jail a few years ago, allegedly by Shahabuddin. Over the past two years, around a dozen of them have been allegedly killed, including BJP leaders and sympathisers like Shrikant Bharatiya, who was shot dead on November 23, 2014.

The list also included Raushan Kumar, the lone eyewitness of the murder of his two younger brothers, who were thrown into an acid tank. Shahabuddin is facing charges in the case. Raushan was shot dead on June 16, 2014, in a manner similar to the scribe's murder.

Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, the party's state president Mangal Pandey, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Prem Kumar, Congress leader K.N. Shukla visited Rajdev's family to express solidarity. They criticised the state government and supported the demand for CBI probe.

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley condemned the murder of scribes on Twitter, while its national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain hit out at the Grand Alliance government in Bihar saying: "It is not jungle raj, but maha (extreme) jungle raj in the state. Chief minister Nitish Kumar is roaming outside Bihar, while the fourth estate of democracy is under threat. Is this what they called Bihar mein bahaar (the song used by the JDU for Assembly poll campaign)?"

On the other hand, RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son, health and environment minister Tej Pratap hit out at the BJP, alleging that the Opposition was behind the criminal incidents. "We got the mandate in the elections and the BJP is jealous about it. This is why they are making allegations of jungle raj. I firmly believe that the Opposition is behind these incidents. They are trying to defame the Grand Alliance," he said.

Rajdev's murder is the latest incident in Siwan that throws up questions about district, infamous as Shahabuddin's "fief" during the Lalu-Rabri regime from 1990 to 2005.

From the 1990s till 2005, Siwan was synonymous with Shahabuddin's terror and a series of murders, including that of former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president Chandrashekhar, led to fear in the district. Local journalists did not dare to write against the MP. The situation changed after 2005 when the NDA came to power and Shahabuddin was convicted in three murder cases and lodged in jail. Media reports against him began to appear.

Since 2013, the Siwan situation has nose-dived and several murders, including that of political activists and witnesses in cases, took place. In March this year, minority welfare minister Abdul Ghafoor visited Shahabuddin in jail.