Hindu outfit leader shot dead in Lko; 2nd in four months
LUCKNOW: The chief of a lesserknown outfit, Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha (VHM), was shot dead by an unknown attacker in the heart of Lucknow on Sunday morning, a day after his birthday, police officials said.
Ranjeet Bachchan, 40, international president of VHM and a resident of Gorakhpur, was on a morning walk along with his cousin Aditya Srivastava when a man fired at them on the pavement of the Globe Park, in Hazratganj.
The attacker fired at Ranjeet’s face, killing him on the spot, and walked away. His cousin was injured in the shooting.
Ranjeet is the second Hindu leader of Lucknow to have been killed in the last four months. On October 18, 2019, Kamlesh Tiwari, 52, president of Hindu Samaj Party, was stabbed and shot dead by two assailants inside his office-cum-residence in Khursheed Bagh locality of Naka here.
Lucknow commissioner of police Sujeet Pandey suspended four policemen, including in-charge of the KD Singh Babu Stadium police outpost Sandeep Tiwari, over their alleged negligence in relation to the incident. The murder took place just about 150 metres from the police outpost.
Ranjeet’s supporters tried to block the traffic outside OCR building (where Ranjeet resided), in Hussainganj, shouting slogans against the police. Calling it a murder by some radical group, they said earlier Kamlesh Tiwari was killed brutally and now Ranjeet was murdered. ACP, Hazratganj, Abhay Mishra pacified the protesters. In the evening, the supporters again gathered outside the gate of OCR building and resorted to slogan shouting.
The police said they were probing the murder case from multiple angles including loot, family or property dispute and enmity.
Joint commissioner of police (JCP), law and order, Naveen Arora said Ranjeet was on a morning walk along with his maternal cousin Aditya when a man fired at them at around 6.15 am.
Arora said the attacker fired at Ranjeet’s face from close range, killing him on the spot, and walked away. He said Ranjeet’s cousin, too, suffered a bullet wound in his left hand and was being treated at the trauma centre of King George’s Medical University (KGMU), where doctors stated that his condition was out of danger.
“The assailant, who was on foot, approached Ranjeet from behind and asked him for his cell phone. When Ranjeet refused to give him the phone, the assailant fired on Ranjeet’s face, killing him on the spot. His
cousin, too, was injured in the attack. The assailant then walked away with the mobile phones of Ranjeet and his cousin,” Arora said. The two mobile phones were later found by police a little distance from the crime spot.
Aditya, too, mentioned in his initial statement to the police that the assailant, who had covered himself with a shawl, tried to snatch his and Ranjeet’s mobile phones.
Arora said eight teams had been formed to probe the incident. He said multiple angles have surfaced during initial investigation, including two marriages of Ranjeet as well as property dispute. Besides, the police have not ruled out of loot angle as the eyewitness, too, mentioned about the assailant’s attempt to snatch mobile phones, he stated.
“Forensic experts are scanning the spot and also CCTV footages. The culprits will be behind bars soon,” Arora emphasised.
As per CCTV grabs, there were two assailants, who came in a car. They parked the car at Hazratganj market stretch, said a cop. Since one of them approached the target, hence the eyewitness mentioned only one assailant.
Meanwhile, officiating director general of police (DGP) Hitesh Chandra Awasthy said, “It seems to be a planned killing. We have four-five crucial leads which are being followed. Also, the special task force (STF) and anti-terrorist squad (ATS) have also been asked to assist Lucknow police in the investigation, especially the scanning of mobile records and electronic surveillance.”
Ranjeet’s brother-in-law Manoj Kumar Sharma said he had celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday and also organised an event in support of CAA and NRC at his OCR building residence.