Ex-RJD state secretary shot dead in Bihar; Tejashwi and Tej Pratap named in FIR

Purnia: Dalit leader Shakti Kumar Malik (40), who was preparing to contest as an Independent from Raniganj after being expelled from the RJD, was shot dead on Sunday by three men at his residence in Bihar’s Purnea district.

Following a complaint by his wife, police have lodged a murder case against RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, former health minister Tej Pratap Yadav and RJD leader Anil Kumar Sadhu — son-in-law of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan — and three others.

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tewari said, “These are baseless allegations and could be part of a political conspiracy.”

Malik was the former general secretary of RJD’s SC cell. His wife Khushbu Kumari alleged that he was killed because he refused to pay Rs 50 lakh to the RJD and had announced that he would contest as an Independent. She said Malik had been threatened by Anil Kumar Sadhu, Tejashwi and Tej.

The family also released a video of the Dalit leader in which he is seen alleging that Sadhu and Tejashwi threatened him with dire consequences “if he did not deposit Rs 50 lakh in the party fund”.

Khajanchi Haat police station in-charge Sunil Kumar said, “We have booked six people for murder, including Tej, Tejashwi and Sadhu. We will investigate if these leaders had any role…”

The Dalit leader had been preparing to contest as an Independent from Raniganj (reserved) seat of Araria. His wife said, “As my husband was being threatened by RJD leaders for daring to contest as an Independent, he had recorded a video message, which we released today as a proof.”

JD (U) state working president Ashok Kumar Choudhary said, “This is the RJD model… a case of atrocity against Dalits… there are a lot of differences between what RJD says and what it practises.”