Monthly Archive for October, 2008

In a show of solidarity on the killing of a Bihar youth by Mumbai Police, Bihar chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his bete noire and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Union Steel and Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday. Raising a finger against the conduct of Mumbai Police, the senior leaders from Bihar held a press conference after meeting the PM and demanded a judicial probe by a sitting judge. Nitish Kumar said: “That boy could have been overpowered, they could have just targetted his hand to remove the revolver. But there was no reason to shoot him.” Lalu Prasad Yadav demanded the arrest of Raj Thackeray. “It’s a brutal murder; we haven’t seen the man shoot at anyone,” he said, adding “people like Bal Thackeray, Raj Thackeray should be tried for treason.” Ram Vilas Paswan demanded that MNS and Shiv Sena should be banned. The RJD chief also said that the Prime Minister has been requested to call an all party meet on the issue. Earlier on Monday, a young pistol-wielding man from Bihar hurling abuses at MNS leader Raj Thackeray was killed in a shoot-out with police in a double-decker BEST bus on Monday after he fired indiscriminately and threatened passengers in an incident that quickly sparked a political row. Pacing through the bus menacingly, the 23-year-old youth identified as Rahul Raj and hailing from Patna was overpowered by police in the upper deck where there were 15 passengers shortly after he boarded the vehicle. Police said they were forced to retaliate when Raj refused to heed their order to stop firing. Raj was also wearing a bullet-proof vest, police said, adding he also demanded that be allowed to speak to the Police Commissioner. One eyewitness said the youth shouted he wanted to kill Raj Thackeray who is under cloud for his anti-north Indian tirade. The shoot-out at around 9.30am during the peak rush power happened when the bus was passing through the ‘Bail’ bazaar area of Kurla, a north-east suburb of Mumbai. “It is being verified whether the person was trying to take hostage aboard the bus. He had fired at the police in ‘Bail’ bazaar area of Kurla and was shot in retaliatory fire,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Rakesh Maria said. Raj, an X-ray technician who reportedly came to Mumbai in search of a job, was pronounced dead at the Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar. A passenger named Manoj Bhagat, who sustained injuries in the incident, was also taken to Rajawadi hospital, where his condition is reported to be critical. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar cried foul over the killing and felt the police could have disarmed the man instead of making him a “sitting duck.” But Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil backed the police action saying they have done their duty correctly saying those who take law into their hands and threaten with bullets will get reply in bullets. The Centre has also sought a report from the Maharashtra government.(With NDTV inputs) ============= A real shame on maharashtra police killng a person just because he is a bihari….. This is racism Hang the cops who killed him Poor poor bihari