BJP leader found dead in Munger

PATNA: The BJP’s SC/ST cell president of Munger, Dinesh Koda (42), was found murdered with his throat slit at Satgharwa under Ladaitand police station area in Munger district on Friday morning. He was a former Maoist. A handwritten pamphlet was found on his body accusing him of extortions in the name of the banned outfit and of being a police informer. However, cops believe the banned outfit was not involved in the murder.
DIG (Munger range) Manu Maharaaj said a Maoist pamphlet was found near Koda’s body.“We are probing the case from different angles. The family members suspect the involvement of some people who had enmity with Koda,” he said.
Munger SP Gaurav Mangla said Koda was earlier associated with the CPI(Maoist), a banned outfit operating in the region. However, there was no report of his involvement in any Maoist incident in the last three-four years. Mangla said 21 people named by Koda’s family members were under the scanner. The family suspected previous enmity as one of the reasons behind the murder. Koda’s wife is a government schoolteacher.
In the pamphlet found near the body, the Maoists accused Koda of being involved in extortion in the name of the outfit, misappropriation of money collected as levy, working as police informer and threatening some local people due to his proximity with police officers.
BJP Munger district president Lal Mohan Gupta said Koda was the party’s SC/ST Morcha chief in the district and had been working for the people belonging to the schedule castes and scheduled tribes in the district.
“Koda has been working for the party for the last eight years. His murder has shocked the party workers, who thronged the Sadar hospital at Munger to pay last tributes to the departed leader,” Gupta told this newspaper over phone.
Gupta also suspected land dispute could be one of the reasons behind Koda’s murder. “We have demanded immediate arrest of the killers,” he said.
The police officers admitted that several cases, including that of murder and attack on police personnel, were pending against Koda. “All the cases were registered before he joined the mainstream of the society,” a senior police officer said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Jamui district, the police arrested an active member of the CPI(Maoist), Manoj Hansda, from Charkapatthar forest. Hansda was involved in an attack on a police polling team during the 2014 Lok Sabha election in the district.