Bajrang Dal leader killed in Jharkhand petrol bomb attack

JAMSHEDPUR: The murder of a Bajrang Dal functionary in a petrol bomb attack in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum on Saturday night triggered outrage and people from his funeral procession clashed on Sunday with police deployed to enforce restrictions on public gatherings under Section 144 that the district authorities had clamped to check trouble.
Political knives were out too, with BJP accusing the Hemant Soren government of encouraging “political killings” in the state.BJP’s West Singhbhum chief Sanjay Puri said the party will protest if the murderers were not arrested within 48 hours.
He also said Kamal Dev Giri, who was the state’s Giriraj Sena head, was set to join BJP.
Police said Giri, who was in his early 30s, was killed when two men threw a ‘Molotov cocktail’ at him in Chakradharpur town. An SIT was formed to probe the murder. His death sparked protests, which escalated after miscreants allegedly threw stones at mourners at his funeral procession. They retaliated and ended up clashing with cops, prompting a lathicharge. “No injury was reported,” SP Ashutosh Shekhar said. DC Ananya Mittal said the situation is under control.
Giri’s supporters burnt tyres and blocked the town’s main street in protest against the murder. A blockade was also seen on the ChakradharpurRanchi highway. Markets wereclosed. BJP members and exMLAs Gurucharan Nayak, Barkuwar Gagrai and Shashibhushan Samad and ex-state home secretary JB Tubid, who is now with the party, were seen at the funeral.
BJP state chief Deepak Prakash the murder was a result of “inciting” remarks by Soren and members of his government. Soren was heard telling JMM workers a few days ago to keep an eye on those attending BJP’s protest rallies.
Congress, a part of the coalition government, accused BJP of trying to gain political mileage from a man’s death.