Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said he would recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the murder of senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan who was shot dead by some unidentified gunmen on Friday evening.
“We have learnt that the victim’s family wants a CBI probe. We are taking a decision to hand over the investigation to the CBI and it will be conveyed to the centre … we will take the decision today itself,” Kumar told the media on Monday.
He said he had already discussed the issue with the state Director General of Police and other senior officials and would be taking the decision very soon.
He expressed shock over the cold-blooded killing of Ranjan, a senior journalist working for prominent Hindi-language Hindustan, saying attack on him was, in fact, an attack on the chief minister.
“A journalist’s job is to write and an attack on him is, as such, an attack on me,” he said, adding he was both saddened and worried over the killing. He said the guilty would not be spared as he believed in bringing the case to a logical end.
Three days after the incident, the police are still groping in the dark and are yet to ascertain what the reason behind the killing and who were the people behind in the crime. However, the needle of suspicion is pointing towards incarcerated Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) politician Mohammad Shahabuddin and the police are also said to investigating his role, if any, in the case.
So far, the police have arrested five persons in connection with the case. Of them, two arrested persons, such as Upendra Singh and Munshi Miyan are said to be close associates of Shahabuddin now lodged in his hometown Siwna jail. Munsi Miyan hails from Pratappur village which is native village of Shahabuddin.
Reports said the police are investigating if the recent release of a video showing Bihar’s minority welfare affairs minister Abdul Gafoor meeting Shahabuddin in jail and having feast with him there had any links with the murder of the journalists. The story was broken by the murdered journalist in his paper first. The RJD, however, has accused the media of doing “irresponsible” reporting.
