Tejashwi wants CBI probe in Shakti Singh murder case

Patna, Oct 7 (IANS) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to recommend a CBI inquiry in the murder case of Dalit leader Shakti Singh.

Yadav, his elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav and four others are facing murder charges in the case of Shakti Singh who was gunned down by three unknown assailants in Purnia on October 4. The FIR was registered on the statement of the deceased's wife Khusboo Devi.

With a request for recommendation of the case to the CBI, Tejashwi wants to take the moral high ground in the case. He also want to send a message among Dalits and Mahadalits about an alleged conspiracy by the ruling JD-U to defame the RJD and its top leadership.

In a letter to Nitish, Tejashwi said that he wants a fair and speedy inquiry into the murder case of Shakti Singh through any national or international investigating agency.

The murder has political implications ahead of the Bihar Assembly election. The leaders and spokespersons of JD-U and BJP are leveling allegations against Tejashwi Yadav and other RJD leaders for "humiliating" Dalits and Mahadalits.

"I learnt that the spokesperson of JD-U is making objectionable remarks against me and my elder brother using FIR in Shakti Singh murder case. As I was busy in election process, it has now come to my notice. We want a speedy investigation in this matter to find the actual culprits," he said.

"As Bihar police has no credibility and your own leaders have put a question mark on its working style, we request you to kindly recommend the case to CBI for a fair probe," Tejashwi said in the letter.

"As you are also the home minister of the state, you are free to arrest me before my nomination," he said.