Nitish Kumar lost his cool when questioned about allegations against leaders from his party
Highlights
- Politicians linked to Bihar government play key roles in recent crimes
- Senior journalist shot dead publicly on Friday
- Opposition says Nitish Kumar cares only about prohibition
was unable to keep his legendary cool today as he confronted questions about why powerful politicians linked to his government appear to have central roles in recent big crimes.
When I asked the Chief Minister today about this, referring to Manorama Devi, the woman leader from his party who has gone underground because the
police wants to arrest her, Mr Kumar snapped, "You tell me where Manorama Devi is. I will make you the investigating officer."
Last week,
Manorama Devi's son,
Rocky Yadav was arrested for shooting a Class 12 student dead in Gaya in Bihar. Mr Yadav, 24, was allegedly unable to bear that the student,
Aditya Sachdeva, had overtaken him. Though it took two days to locate Mr Yadav, hiding in a factory owned by his family, his mother has been charged not with helping to orchestrate his temporary escape, but because liquor was found in her home. Bihar is a dry state.
Manorama Devi of Nitish Kumar's party went underground after an arrest warrant was issued against her
"I am not obsessed with prohibition," the Chief Minister told reporters today, retaliating to the opposition's charges that his administration's focus on ensuring alcohol is not sold in Bihar has come at the cost of maintaining law and order. "It's not all jungle raj in Bihar," the Chief Minister said, referring to the opposition BJP's accusation that Bihar is being torn apart by lawlessness.
On Friday night, senior journalist Rajdeo Ranjan was shot dead in Siwan in Bihar. Mr Ranjan, the bureau chief for Hindi-language daily Hindustan, was travelling on his motorcycle when a group of men shot him five times. Mr Ranjan, 46, had reported extensively on criminal Mohammed Shahabuddin, in jail since 2005 for a series of murders. Mr Shahabuddin maintains close links to Lalu Yadav, whose party co-governs Bihar with Mr Kumar's Janata Dal United or JDU. It was during Lalu's stints as Chief Minister of Bihar that the term "jungle raj" became a top descriptor for the state.
The police have arrested a man named Upendra Singh, seen as a right-hand aide of Mr Shahabuddin,
Rocky Yadav, son of Bihar's ruling party leader Manorama Devi, was arrested for killing a teenager
but on charges of violating the prohibition law. The Chief Minister says that the journalist's death will be investigated by the CBI, as requested by Mr Ranjan's family.
Responding to reports that Mr Ranjan was on a list of targets prepped by Mr Shahabuddin from jail, the state's top police officer. P K Thakur , said, "In December 2014, there was information, unverified, that a hit list was given out from Siwan jail where two people have been already killed , while another one was targeted. But no list with 23 names (as alleged after Mr Ranjan's murder) was provided to us."