Patna: Terming the Begusarai shootout a terror attack, Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Giriraj Singh on Friday demanded an NIA or CBI probe into the mass shooting that killed one and injured 10 people here last Tuesday. Singh further alleged that the Nitish Kumar government is trying to cover up the matter.
“The Begusarai incident was not a normal firing incident. Though it did not harm more than 11 people, it was a terror attack. The incident should be probed by either NIA or CBI. The Nitish Kumar government is trying to cover up the case under the influence of politics of appeasement,” Giriraj said at Patna airport while speaking to the media. The police officials have arrested the four accused in the Begusarai shootout case, identified as Sumit, Keshav, Yuvraj, and Arjun. Sumit Kumar alias Naga is the main accused in the case, who was arrested by the police while he was on his way to Ranchi and trying to board the Maurya Express at Jhajha Railway Station, police sources said.
Singh further said, “The Begusarai incident has exposed the real face of the government. Initially, the police had said that only two people were involved. But 24 hours later, they said four people were involved. It is also very unfortunate that the chief minister revealed the caste of the criminals before their arrest.” The Union Minister said after the shootout, Nitish had categorically stated that criminals had targeted people belonging to backward caste and minorities. Later, the CM clarified that his statement was based on the information given by the locals.
Giriraj Singh also said, “Nitish Kumar claims that he had talked about the caste based on the information given by locals. The system provides information to the chief minister, not the locals. If your system has failed then you must surrender yourself."
BJP leaders have flayed the Nitish Kumar government for poor law and order, terming it as Gunda Raj and the return of Jungle Raj. Many of the BJP leaders had taken a jibe at Nitish for allegedly getting caste involved in a crime incident. Leader of opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha, BJP state unit president Sanjay Jaiswal and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi are among the many leaders who slammed Nitish and held him responsible for the shootout.
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All these leaders even visited Begusarai to meet the injured people including the family members of Chandan Kumar, who died in the shootout. The bike-borne criminal unleashed the indiscriminate firing for over 40 minutes covering a stretch of 30 kms, that also passed through four police stations.
Earlier, Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Yogendra Kumar had suspended seven police officers for negligence during the patrolling.
