Mumbai:
Two years after 25-year-old Rahul Raj was shot dead in a BEST bus at Andheri, his father Kundan Raj Prasad is a furious man seeking to quash all rumours surrounding his son's death.
Bihar resident Rahul Raj had taken a BEST bus (no 332) hostage at Andheri on Oct 27, 2008. He was armed with a pistol and said he wanted to kill MNS chief Raj Thackeray. He was gunned down after he refused to surrender to the police.
Some said he was angry because of the agitation by the MNS against the North Indians, while some others said he was mentally unfit.
"Raj was a para-medical student and never wanted to join the Railways. However, his friends wanted to take the exam on Oct 19, 2008 in Kalyan, Thane and other Mumbai suburbs. On their insistence, he accompanied them," said the 25-year-old father.
On the day, MNS and Sena protested at the exam venues. They assaulted many students at the railway stations and outside the exams halls. "He cried for help but no one came to his rescue."
Kundan added, "Rahul returned home but did not tell me about the beating. However, his friends told me of the incident. My son used to be quiet and contemplative but the beating had taken a toll on him emotionally. He left for Mumbai to teach Thackeray a lesson but, was murdered by the Mumbai police."
Kundan feels that the Mumbai police could have handled the situation better and made his son surrender.
Earlier this year, Kundan also appealed to the Patna High Court, as the Mumbai Esplanade Court had said that it was not a fake encounter by cops and closed the case. Kundan Raj also filed an RTI application and in September this year it was revealed that all the police officials involved in the case had been cleared.
"How can the Mumbai police investigate an encounter by the Mumbai police itself? There should be a CBI inquiry on this. Hence, I filed a petition in the Patna High Court and soon the case will restart and my son will get justice. The cops could have easily arrested him and not killed him," said Kundan.
On October 27, 2008, around 9.20 am, Rahul Raj took bus number 332, which plied from Andheri (East) to Kurla station, hostage. He even tried to strangle the conductor on the upper deck of the bus.
When the bus stopped near Bail Bazaar, the conductor alerted cops. The cops tried approaching Rahul but he fired at the cops.
By 9.35 am, about 100 cops cordoned off the bus and asked the passengers to come out.
When the police asked Rahul to surrender, he threw down currency notes and claimed that he had come to kill Raj Thackeray.
Rahul also injured Manoj Bhagat, a 25-year-old finance executive from Sakinaka, a passenger on the bus. Later, the cops entered the bus and shot Rahul.