Jungle raj again? Deputy Mayor of Bihar's Arrah town shot at by assailants

Basant Singh, the Deputy Mayor of Bihar’s Arrah town, was on Thursday seriously injured after some people shot at him, police said. Basant Singh was on his morning walk when some “motorcycle-borne people shot at him from close range,” a police officer said. He was initially admitted to a private clinic in Arrah, the headquarters of Bhojpur district, and later shifted to state capital Patna.

Bhojpur(Bihar): Deputy Mayor Basant Singh shot at, admitted to Patna hospital pic.twitter.com/EeBy2gR1Ec

— ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2016

He is said to be out of danger now. Police said the attack on Basant Singh, who runs a transport business with a fleet of over a dozen commercial vehicles, seems to be the result of business rivalry. However, Singh told ANI, “I don’t have any grudges against anyone. But I intervene to get justice for poor. Yesterday (Wednesday) seven to eight people came to my office. I know the people who are being suspected behind this." Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Narayan Jha said the incident was yet another proof of the slide in law and order that the Bihar government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has allowed. This is not the first time the BJP has accused Nitish Kumar of letting jungle raj continue in Bihar. On 9 May, several BJP members raised the issue of law and order situation in Bihar in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, particularly highlighting the fact that Aditya Sachdeva, the teenaged son of a businessman, was allegedly shot dead by Rocky Yadav, son of a legislator of ruling Janata Dal (United) Manorama Devi on the Bodh Gaya-Gaya road in an apparent case of road rage. BJP member Ashwaini Chaubey also mentioned an incident of rape that was allegedly committed at Sultanganj near Bhagalpur. Late May, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Sudesh Paswan was murdered in Dumaria district near Gaya. He was campaigning for panchayat elections before he was shot dead. BJP’s Bihar vice-president and prominent Bhojpur leader, Visheshwar Ojha was shot dead at Sonbarsha village in Arrah. These incidents resulted in Nitish Kumar being heavily criticised for being unable to control the law and order situation in his state. Data compiled by _IndiaSpend_ and previously published on Firstpost shows that crime in Bihar increased by 42 percent and conviction rates fell by 68 percent since 2010. Nitish Kumar however, denied the jungle raj allegations . He said last month, “People say there is jungle raj in Bihar. But, there is mangal raj and rule of law in Bihar. Action is being taken in all cases of murders. Guilty, whoever he or she may be, will not be spared at any cost.” With inputs from IANS