The Bihar Police have detained an RJD member for his alleged involvement in journalist Rajdeo Ranjan murder case.

Upendra Singh, who has links with former RJD lawmaker Mohammad Shahabuddin, has been detained in connection with the Siwan bureau chief's murder for last two days. Singh is an active RJD member.

Siwan district President of RJD Parmatma Ram has confirmed this.

ALSO READ: Is recent spate of crimes pushing Bihar back into dark ages?



Earlier, the police investigating the killing of Siwan journalist Rajdeo Ranjan had claimed that the sharp shooters involved in the death had links with former RJD MP Shahabuddin who is presently lodged in Siwan jail.

Top cops in Siwan who are probing the case had informed that the killing of the journalist was a pre-planned murder and the assailants who were professionals had conducted recce for 2-3 days before executing their plan on Friday evening.

The former MP is a close aide of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and was recently inducted into the National Executive of the party. Police which soon after the incident flung into action detained two persons namely Upendra Singh and Shahzad, both who have close links with Shahabuddin.



Siwan is considered to be the backyard of RJD chief Lalu Prasad. He was in the nearby village Panki on Friday to campaign for a by-election. The RJD chief even visited the journalist's home to mourn his killing by criminals a day before in Jharkhand.

Ranjan was on his motorcycle when the assailants fired at him near Siwan railway station. He was shot point blank three times in the head and neck, and died on the spot. The senior journalist had been working for daily Hindustan for the last 22 years. He was 40.

Third accused detained



The Bihar Police today detained a third person in connection with the murder case in Siwan.

The man is the caretaker of the CCTV footage and he is being quizzed by the police team from Siwan which arrived in Patna to investigate into the disappearance of the footage. Cops suspect, caretaker Radheshyam deleted the CCTV footage.

Earlier, the Bihar Police had collected evidence from the crime scene of the murder and detained two suspects.

ALSO READ: Blood on Bihar's streets again after senior journalist is shot dead near railway station



The killing came barely a day after another journalist Indradeo Yadav was gunned down in Chatra district of the adjoining Jharkhand state. Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad had on Friday condemned the killing of Yadav and hit out at the Raghubar Das government for the law and order situation.

BJP demands CBI inquiry



Condemning the killing, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Nitish Kumar government had lost control over the law and order situation. The state party president Mangal Pandey said that the criminals having political patronage were ruling the roost in Bihar.

The BJP today demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing of a journalist in Siwan and hinted about the alleged involvement of a jailed RJD strongman in the murder.

"The needle of suspicion points to a jailed 'bahubali' (muscleman) in the murder of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan. Since such a high profile person is suspected, its a known fact that Bihar police would not be able to do justice to the case. Hence the matter should be handed over to the CBI," senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said.

Modi along with leader of opposition in Legislative Assembly Prem Kumar and state BJP chief Mangal Pandey visited the family of Ranjan.

The senior BJP leader claimed that recently the Superintendent of Police of Siwan furnished a list of 23 people to the state police headquarters who were "black listed" by jailed RJD strongman and former MP, Mohammad Shahbuddin, and Rajdeo Ranjan's name figured in the list.

"The pattern of murder of the journalist was similar to the recent killings of BJP workers of Siwan, Srikant Bharti and Rajesh Roshan, at the behest of Mohammad Shahbuddin," he said.

BJP would organise a sit-in at Siwan tomorrow to protest against the journalist's murder, said Modi, who was Deputy Chief Minister during NDA rule in the state.

Elsewhere in the state, BJP workers would burn effigy of the state government to protest deterioration in law and order situation in Bihar, he added.

