4 arrested, political slug fest begins
There is no need to hand over the probe to the NIA or the CBI. The Begusarai police is investigating the case. Girirajji is talking nonsense. —NITISH KUMAR, Bihar chief minister
Four persons were arrested on Thursday in connection with the September 13 shooting in Begusarai in which one person was killed and 11 were injured when some men went on a rampage on the highways passing through the industrial town.
Begusarai is known for its fertiliser factory, an Indian Oil Corporation plant and ancillary units.
District Superintendent of Police Yogendra Kumar produced the arrested youths — Yuvraj, Keshav alias Mago, Sumit alias Chunchun and Arjun — before the media. He said police had also recovered two motorcycles and two countrymade pistols used in the incident. The police also claimed to have recovered the outfits that the men were wearing at the time.
Keshav was arrested by the Government Railway Police at Jhajha railway station when he was boarding the Maurya Express for Ranchi in neighbouring Jharkhand.
However, the youths told reporters they were innocent and not even in Begusarai at the time. Keshav’s mother met BJP MP Rakesh Sinha and told him her son was at a hotel when the shootings were taking place. The SP, however, said
Keshav was directing the others from the hotel.
Yogendra Kumar said the four men were arrested with credible evidence on the basis of technical surveillance of their mobile phones.
Union minister Giriraj Singh of the BJP, who represents Begusarai in the Lok Sabha, said innocent young men from a so-called upper caste had been arrested. "Police is protecting the real culprits,” he claimed. “This is part of the [Nitish Kumar] government's appeasement policy."
The minister demanded a probe by the National Investigation Authority (NIA) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). "It was an act of terror, not an ordinary crime," he said, something the police chief also said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said, "There is no need to hand over the probe to the NIA or the CBI. The Begusarai police is investigating the case. Girirajji is talking nonsense.”