Jharkhand CM orders SIT probe into Congress leader's killing

RANCHI: Chief minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday ordered the police to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the blast incident which killed Koderma district Congress president Shankar Yadav on Tuesday evening.
A statement issued by the CM’s office at noon read: “I am deeply hurt by the death of Yadav. A SIT under Koderma DSP Karmafal Oraon has been constituted. The SIT will be assisted by the CID and Koderma district police.The police have been directed to arrest the criminals at the earliest.”
The SIT includes Oraon, Koderma police inspector KP Yadav, Chandwara officer in charge Soni Pratap, Barhi SDPO Manish Kumar, Barhi OC Jitendra Kumar Singh and Chouparan OC Sudama Kumar Das.
Yadav (50) was killed near Dhab village under Chandwara police station when a bomb hurled on his SUV by unidentified assailants exploded. The politician was returning to Koderma from Chouparan in Hazaribag after visiting his stone crushing factory there. Police suspected business rivalry behind the fatal attempt.
Krishna Yadav, the driver of the SUV and Dharmendra Yadav (bodyguard), who were grievously injured in the explosion, died in Ranchi during treatment on Wednesday morning.
Koderma SP Shivani Tiwary told the TOI: “The forensic team collected evidence from the site and investigations are underway. A few people are being interrogated. A complaint has been filed by the deceased’s family based on which the property of a person named Munish Yadav’s was attached in Chouparan in the morning. However, no arrests have been made so far.”
Angry over Yadav’s death, Congress workers of the district blocked the busy NH-31 near the Dhab village since morning. The blockade, which lasted for five hours, closed down traffic on the highway. Vehicles were stranded in a queue that stretched five kilometers, eyewitnesses said.
Congress state president Ajoy Kumar, JVM-P president Babulal Marandi, RJD state president Annapurna Devi and Rajdhanwar MLA Rajkumar Yadav reached the site of blockade. In unison, the politicians trained their guns on the government for failing law and order and demanded immediate arrest of the assailants. “The incident showed that criminals are roaming free in the state and the government is a toothless tiger,” Kumar said. The Congress declared a 24-hour bandh in Koderma on Thursday in protest of the incident.