PATNA: A pall of gloom enveloped Aruhi village in Bihar’s Rohtas district after Manish Ranjan, a native and Intelligence Bureau officer posted in Hyderabad, was killed in Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Manish was attacked when he, along with wife and two children, had gone to Jammu and Kashmir on a personal tour.
Alok Priyadarshi, uncle of the slain IB officer, said that he had also planned to go with Manish Ranjan to have a glimpse of Maa Vaisno Devi but could not accompany him due to ill health. “We want justice from the union government,” he told this reporter over the phone.
Priyadarshi said that Manish’s wife Asha alias Jaya and their two kids—a 12-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter are stated to be safe. The terrorists shot Manish with sophisticated weapons in front of his wife and children, who escaped towards the opposite direction after the firing.
Manish’s father, Manglesh Mishra, lives with his family in Malda district of West Bengal, where he was posted as a teacher in a college. “He is living with his family in Malada after he retired from service. Manish was the eldest among three siblings of Manglesh,” Priyadarshi said.
Manish’s second brother Rahul Ranjan is employed in Food Corporation of India (FCI) while the youngest brother, Vineet Ranjan, is posted in Excise department in West Bengal. Family sources said that Manish was transferred to Hyderabad from Ranchi in Jharkhand about three years ago.
His grandfather Parasnath Mishra, a retired headmaster from a government school, died about a decade ago. The family has an ancestral house in Gorakshni locality of Sasaram, the district headquarters of Rohtas.
Manish’s uncle Alok Ranjan, who lives at Sasaram, said that Manish had called him over the phone while going on a personal tour in Jammu and Kashmir. “The family was delighted over the tour programme. But destiny had willed it otherwise,” Alok Ranjan said with a heavy heart.
Another relative of the slain IB officer said that Manish had gone to Jammu and Kashmir three days ago. “The family was elated over the trip to Jammu and Kashmir,” recalled Dr. Surendra Mishra.
Meanwhile, Bihar Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and chief minister Nitish Kumar strongly condemned the terrorist attack and killing of innocent tourists in Pahalgam. The Governor expressed deep anguish over the incident and termed the terror attack a cowardice act. CM Nitish said he is deeply saddened by the loss of the lives of innocent citizens.