PATNA: Former Jharkhand minister Raja Peter was Monday arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for allegedly masterminding and paying for the murder in 2008 of his political rival Ramesh Singh Munda of JD(U) at the hands of Maoists
Peter, whose official name is Gopal Krishna Pater, was arrested following revelations by former Maoist commander, Kundan Pahan, during interrogation by the central anti-terrorism agency. Pahan (38), a former CPI(Maoist) zonal commander who surrendered before Jharkhand police in May, was a prime accused in Munda's murder.
Pahan told NIA sleuths that Peter had paid the Maoists Rs 4 crore to eliminate Munda, then a sitting MLA of Tamar constituency in Ranchi district, said sources. Munda, who was previously a minister in Jharkhand's NDA-led government by Arjun Munda, was gunned down by a group of Maoists during a school function on July 9, 2008. Two of his three bodyguards, a party colleague and a student were also killed in the attack.
Raja Peter, 54, was detained by the NIA Sunday and the arrest was made formally Monday, said NIA sources. Munda's murder case was handed over to the NIA in July following demands by his son and sitting Tamar MLA Vikas Kumar Munda, who protested against the surrender of Kundan Pahan as part of the state government's surrender and rehabilitation policy.
Sheshnath Singh, an assistant sub-inspector of Jharkhand police who was one of Munda's three security guards, was arrested by the NIA in Dhanbad Sunday. Singh had allegedly passed on information about Munda's travel to the Maoists.
Ramesh Singh Munda and Raja Peter were bitter political rivals. Peter was defeated by Munda in Tamar constituency in both 2000 and 2005 assembly polls. After Munda's murder, Peter won the bypoll in January 2009 as a Jharkhand Peoples Party (JPP) candidate by defeating then chief minister and JMM chief Shibu Soren, forcing him to resign. This gave Peter the epithet "giant killer" and led to his inclusion in the Arjun Munda-led NDA government that followed.
Peter later joined JD(U) and was appointed the party's state president in May 2013.
He joined the BJP the next year, but was denied ticket to contest the assembly polls in Tamar. He contested as an Independent and lost to Ramesh Singh Munda's son Vikas Kumar Munda of AJSU.