RJD leader close to Shahabuddin shot dead in Bihar

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a youth leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in north Bihar’s Siwan district in the wee hours of Saturday, three days after a JD(U)-BJP government assumed charge in the state.

Police said Minhaj Khan was asleep in his house at Sheikhpura village in Basantpur police station area, 158 km north of Patna, when gunmen opened fire on him around 3am. Khan was the district general secretary of the RJD Yuva Morcha and also a close aide of controversial former MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, a Siwan strongman who is convicted in many criminal cases. Khan’s family members accused criminal Raju Khan and his accomplices of plotting the murder. The killing sparked tension in the area with a large number of villagers gathering at the victim’s house. Maharajganj sub-divisional police officer Sanjit Kumar is camping at the village with a police team from Basantpur. The situation was tense, but under control, the police added. Basantpur police station SHO Dharmendra Kushwaha told HT over phone that a country-made carbine and five live bombs were recovered near the house of the victim. Prima facie, it appeared that the incident could be the result of personal enmity, the station house officer (SHO) said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar snapped ties with the RJD to form government with BJP’s support on Thursday, promising good governance. His earlier grand alliance government, of which the RJD was a part, was often accused of failing to curb growing crimes in the state.

Welcoming Kumar to the NDA fold, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan earlier urged the CM to make law and order top of his agenda for governance.