Murder of upright officer shocks Bihar police

Murder of upright officer shocks Bihar police
MANOJ PRASAD

LOHARDAGA, OCT 5: The death of 35-yr-old Ajay Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police of Lohardaga district, has badly affected the morale of the entire police force in the state. ``We are all shocked by it,'' Inspector General of Police Rameshwar Oraon said.

Singh was gunned down by suspected Maoist Communist Centre ultras near Peshrar village in Lohardaga district yesterday.

Singh, a 1995 batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre, is the first IPS officer who died in uniform while confronting ultras in this state. He was known as a courageous, upright and dutiful police officer.

Aware of the danger to his life, Singh was very careful about letting very few people know about his daily itinerary. Reportedly, even his official bodyguard, Chandramuni Singh, was always not aware of what his plans were.

``Saheb did not allow anybody to know what he would do the next moment,''Chandramuni said.

Even yesterday, Chandramuni says they were in the dark about Singh's plan to visit Peshrar, a village surrounded located at the junction of three extremist-infested districts -- Lohardaga, Gumla and Palamau -- where an incident of firing by the ultras had taken place on Sunday afternoon.

``Saheb had told us that he would go to Bagru,'' recalled Chandramuni.

But after he left his office in his Maruti Gypsy with Bandhu, his driver, Chandramuni and four Bihar Military Police jawans, Singh reportedly changed his route on the way and began to move towards Peshrar.

At a guesthouse near Peshrar, he stopped and made inquiries about the place where the firing had taken place on Sunday afternoon. Soon, his Gypsy moved ahead. As we approached the hill, a blast occurred,'' Bandhan Oraon, one of the four jawans with Singh, told The Indian Express.

``We took position. Before any of us could open fire, a bullet pierced Saheb's left ear and came out through the other one. He died on the spot,'' recalled Bandhan.

Last morning, Singh reportedly had a telephonic conversation with Gumla SP Ram Chandra Ram. Singh is said to have fixed a ``plan'' to go somewhere with him. But Ram denies having any such conversation with Singh.

The question that then arises is who informed the ultras about Singh's plans. The incident has once again raised serious questions about leakage of information top police officers' movements.

Meanwhile, the state government has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased SP. Singh's wife, Anupama Saxena is herself an IPS officer and the Superintendent of Police of Ranchi.

The Bijar govt has also recommended to the Centre that the highest peace time gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra, be conferred posthumously on Singh.

The state government has also launched a special combing operation against the extremists following Singh's gunning down yesterday.

State Home Commissioner U.N. Panjiyar said combined forces of CRPF, Bihar Military Police and state police started combing operation to flush out outlaws in Kisko police station area bordering Palamau and Lohardaga districts.

Additional police forces from Ranchi and nearby districts had been rushed to Lohardaga to assist in the combing operation.

The mine blast, firing by the ultras on the police vehicle and killing of apoliceman are not new to this state. Reportedly, 45 personnel of the security forces belonging to the Bihar Military Police, CRPF, BSF, CISF and the ITBP have been killed in over a dozen landmine blasts triggered by the ultras since 1998.