J’khand ex-minister held for ‘paying Maoists’ to kill rivals

RAMESH SINGH MUNDA WAS SHOT DEAD IN JULY 2008 IN BUNDU TOWN OF TAMAR CONSTITUENCY, WHICH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STATE’S INSURGENCY HOTBED

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested former Jharkhand minister Gopal Krishna Patar aka Raja Peter on Monday on charges of conspiring with Maoist insurgents and paying them to kill a political rival nine years ago.

Janata Dal (United) legislator Ramesh Singh Munda, also a former minister, was shot dead in July 2008 in Bundu town of Tamar constituency, which is in the middle of the state’s insurgency hotbed. He allegedly angered Maoists with frequent and scathing criticism against the group. A day before he was killed, Munda lashed out at the rebels at a public event.

Munda was Patar’s biggest rival and he lost to him in the 2000 and 2005 assembly elections. But in the by-election after the murder, Patar scored a stunning victory in Tamar. He defeated CM Shibu Soren, forcing him to resign. It was the intricacies surrounding the murder that prompted a probe by the anti-terrorism agency, which suspect rival Patar paid ₹4 crore to Maoists to kill Munda. Before arrest, the NIA detained Patar as the investigators suspected an unlikely alliance — a politician, a policeman and Maoists — was forged and they worked in tandem to eliminate the politician.

The agency had arrested an assistant sub-inspector of Jharkhand police, Sheshnath Singh, who was part of Munda’s security. He was accused of passing information about Munda’s travels to Maoists. The probe barely moved for almost nine years and main suspect Kundan Pahan, a Maoist leader of Tamar, was on the run. The probe picked up pace after he surrendered this May.

It also helped that Munda’s son, Vikas, was the Tamar MLA and his All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) is a part of the ruling Bjp-led alliance. After Pahan’s surrender, Vikas demanded a probe by the central agency into his father’s murder.

The NIA began the probe in July and questioned Pahan. “Pahan told us he took ₹4 crore from Raja Peter to assassinate Munda,” an agency officer said.

The rebels too wanted him dead and their central committee had decided to kill the legislator, he said. “According to Pahan, it was Patar who bankrolled the operation.” But the Maoist leader allegedly pocketed most of the money instead of handing the entire amount to his bosses.