PATNA: A construction firm owner, a bank official and a property dealer were shot dead in separate incidents in Bihar in a span of 12 hours on Saturday, prompting the Opposition parties to dub the state’s Nitish Kumar-led NDA government as a total failure and demand President’s Rule in the state.
The three back-do-back murders shocked the general public and the intelligentsia alike as they took place barely 48 hours after an industrialist-cum-BJP leader Gunjan Khemka was shot dead in Vaishali district. Workers of the Opposition Congress staged a demonstration outside Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s residence over the sharp decline in law and order situation.
Kushesh Prasad Shahi, the owner of Shahi Construction Company, was shot dead on NH 57 near Ranipur in the northern Darbhanga district.Unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants fired at his car when he was on the way to his office, killing him on the spot. Shahi was among the top contractors in Bihar. His firm is handling some of the major road projects in the state.
A customer service point (CSP) in-charge of Punjab National Bank (PNB), Pintu Singh, was shot dead in Gaya district in the wee hours of Saturday. Police sources said he was abducted from near Amas late on Friday. An accused, Dipak Kumar, was taken into custody and being interrogated, said police.
Property dealer Mahesh Singh was shot dead by unidentified gunmen at Paspura village under Mufassil police station in Begusarai district around midnight. Police believe a dispute over financial transaction led to the murder. In another incident, contractor Ram Krishna Sharma was shot dead in Muzaffarpur district.
Leader of the Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav attacked CM Nitish Kumar in a series of tweets, asking if the latter had any work left outside sharing of seats. “The entire government has turned shameless,” he wrote. Senior RJD leaders Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Bhai Birendra said Bihar was currently under “maha jungle raj” and President’s Rule must be imposed on the state immediately.
“It is clearly the AK-47 rifles ruling in Bihar today. Nitish Kumar has failed to protect the people’s lives and should therefore resign,” said Congress leader and MP Akhilesh Singh.
The ruling JD(U) and BJP, however, dismissed the Opposition parties’ charges. “Every murder is an unfortunate incident. We demand on behalf of our party that the police headquarters ensure fast action in these cases,” said JD(U) state spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan.
“It is pointless to blame the government for the murders. Bihar’s people have not forgotten that even FIRs were not registered after murders during RJD’s rule,” said BJP leader and minister Nand Kishore Yadav.