‘Jal satyagraha’ in Gopalganj for arrest of murder accused

PATNA: A number of residents of Bhore in Gopalganj district on Monday observed ‘jal satyagraha’ against police apathy to arrest the killers of businessman Ramashray Singh even after a year of the incident.
The protesters, including women, with placards and banners stood in Lachchi Chak pond around 12 noon for over an hour demanding immediate arrest of the culprits involved in Singh’s murder.
Singh (45) was shot dead when he had gone to his petrol pump under construction under Bhore police station on June 13 last year. His elder brother Harinarain Singh had lodged an FIR against nine people and apprehended the involvement of some high profile persons of the area.
Though the alleged shooter Vishal Singh and one Prabhunath Singh were arrested, the other seven accused remained at large. The named accused included Braj Kishore Singh alias Buchi Singh and Raju Singh, stated to be close relatives of Vivek Singh, the alleged mastermind behind the murder.
Vishal had reportedly told the interrogators that Vivek, also a resident of Bhore police station area, had given him the contract for Singh’s murder. The deceased had a dispute over a plot of land on which a multicomplex was being constructed.
Police sources said Prabhunath of Bhore was released on bail from the Patna high court on August 30, 2019 while the property of four other accused was attached on the local court’s directive.
The deceased’s wife Sunita Singh threatened to intensify the agitation if the culprits were not arrested soon. “We have been running from pillar to post to get justice. But nobody is paying heed to our grievances. We are apprehending fresh threat as the named accused were roaming freely in the area and intimidating witnesses,” she said.
She alleged that the investigating officers were delaying the probe on the pretext of guidelines from the criminal investigation department, which has been asked by the police headquarters to assist in the investigation. “The investigation is proceeding at a snail’s pace despite the high court directive to arrest the accused at the earliest,” she told reporters in Gopalganj.
Both DIG (Saran range) Vijay Kumar Verma and Gopalganj SP Manoj Kumar Tiwari could not be contacted despite repeated attempts on their cellphones to get comments. However, DSP Naresh Paswan said efforts were on to nab the absconding accused.