Under secretary shot dead in Patna; 14 cops suspended, 12 suspects held

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A senior government official was on Monday shot dead by unidentified persons inside his official residence here, police said. Fourteen police officials, including the inspector-in-charge of the police station concerned, were suspended following the incident that took place barely a few 100 metres from the state Assembly building, even as 12 people were rounded up on the basis of suspicion. The assailants reached the house of Rajeev Kumar (50), an undersecretary in the State Department for Planning around 4 am.

They had an altercation with the official and then shot him, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Sachivalay) Rajesh Singh Prabhakar told PTI. Kumar's government quarter is located in the R-block area under the Sachivalaya police station here. Inspector General of Police, Patna Zone, Naiyer Hasnain Khan told PTI-Bhasha "The inspector-in-charge Rajesh Kumar Bhaskar and a sub-inspector Anant Kumar, besides 10 constables and two Home Guard jawans, who were in the police party that patrolled the area, have been suspended."

"A Special Operation Group, headed by Dy SP (Sachivalay) has been set up to probe the matter," he added. Earlier, Rajni, the wife of the deceased, had told some local news channels that the gunmen had come with an intention to loot and opened fire when her husband tried to resist. She also alleged that they decamped with valuables worth Rs 30,000-40,000. Prabhakar had, however, said, "We are investigating the matter from all angles. We suspect some old enmity may also be behind the killing which the family is trying to hide."

He also said that "about a dozen people have been rounded up for interrogation. There are no vital clues linking them to the killing so far. But they are known to have criminal antecedents and we may zero in on something important by grilling them". Meanwhile, the Bihar Secretariat Service Association issued a statement demanding immediate arrest of the culprits, their speedy trial besides payment of ex-gratia to the next of the kin of the deceased and financial assistance to his dependants.

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