Killers at large, SIT to probe

PATNA: The Bihar police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the murder of IndiGo airlines airport manager, Rupesh Kumar Singh, who was shot dead Tuesday evening in Punaichak area of Patna, a top police officer said Wednesday.

According to additional director general (headquarters) Jitendra Kumar, the SIT will work under Patna city SP Vijay Tiawry.

The police have so far not been able to ascertain the identity of the killers.

A police team has been sent to Singh’s Jalalpur house in Chhapra district, about 100 km north of Patna, as part of probe.

Another police team collected details on Singh and recorded the statements of his colleagues and other employees at the Patna airport.

The incident triggered panic among citizens and over 2,000 policemen were deployed to maintain law and order in the area. The spot, where the murder took place, is located near a high-security zone that includes chief minister Nitish Kumar’s official residence, the

Bihar police headquarters and state secretariat.

Singh was shot in front of his apartment on Shankar Path in Punaichak area around 7.15 pm on Tuesday when he returned from duty on his new SUV. He was waiting for the guard to open the main gate when two motorcycle-borne assailants sprayed bullets on him and sped away.

Singh, who was shot in the neck and chest, died on the spot.

Five CCTV cameras of the apartment complex were found to be non-functional. A nearby CCTV captured a grainy image of the motorcyclist.

Police found six empty cartridges from the spot and a mobile phone from Singh’s car.

Another police official said they have received some clues about the criminals but are yet to identify the culprits.

Singh’s father retired from Kolkata police while his elder brother runs a skill development centre at Jalalpur.

Locals said Singh had political ambitions and wanted to fight the assembly election from the Marhaura seat on a BJP ticket.

He was reportedly close to many BJP leaders.