RANCHI: The recent police encounter of ex-BJP leader Surya Hansda, who had also contested four Assembly polls, has sparked controversy in Jharkhand politics.
State BJP president and Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, terming the encounter as a ‘cold blooded murder’, demanded an investigation either by the CBI or under the supervision of a sitting High Court judge.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister Arjun Munda will be visiting Hansda’s family in Godda on August 17, suggesting that the BJP plans to escalate the issue further.
Talking to the media persons, Marandi made a scathing attack on the Hemant Soren government, alleging that “criminal elements within the Jharkhand police” have taken it upon themselves to frame tribal leaders, seize land for money, shelter mafias and silence dissent through staged encounters.
“The way some police officers in this government are themselves involved in criminal activities by giving shelter and protection to criminals, the leaders in power and opposition and their allies are also facing threat to their lives every day, besides the common people,” said Marandi.
Marandi claimed that Hansda was not killed in a police encounter, but murdered by “cowards in uniform” who feared his activism could mobilise tribals to demand their rights and resources.
“False cases, harassment and constant pressure have become the government’s standard way of dealing with protestors,” Marandi said. Hansda’s wife and mother have repeatedly accused the police of deliberate murder and they demanded a CBI inquiry; if the Chief Minister Hemant Soren fears CBI, then let a sitting High Court judge lead the probe, he added.
Earlier, Munda also alleged that Surya Hansda was continuously campaigning against displacement in the area, was against illegal mining and trade of coal, sand and more. Incidents of exploitation of tribals were also taking place in the area, to which Surya Hansda always opposed, due to which, several fake cases were filed against him, he said.
“Surya Hansda was arrested from his home; he was not well and his wife kept pleading, but after arresting him from home, he was killed in a fake encounter,” said Munda.
“Munda also wrote on X, “Time made the tribal a criminal, democracy gave him a platform…. but the police snatched his last breath......The encounter of tribal leader Surya Hansda raises many questions. When he had contested elections four times, it clearly meant that he wanted to work by joining the mainstream, but the way the police took action against him, raises several doubts.”
Notably, Surya Hansda was gunned down by the police on August 11, allegedly when he was trying to escape while being taken from Deoghar to Godda following his arrest, after he disclosed during interrogation that weapons had been hidden in the Jirli–Dhamni hills of Godda. Hansda allegedly snatched a weapon from the police and tried to escape, and was killed in an encounter with the police.
Hansda’s family members, on the other hand, have accused the police of carrying out a “planned encounter” and refused to accept his dead body.
Police, however, said that Hansda had been involved in several other crimes, including an incident in which he allegedly broke the hand of a DSP who had gone to arrest him. They have followed the procedure mentioned in the NHRC guidelines, they said.