Prashant Kishor questions role of top officials in Bharat Tiwari encounter
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday questioned the role of “top officials sitting in Patna” in the recent police encounter in Bihar’s Bhojpur
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Wednesday questioned the role of “top officials sitting in Patna” in the recent police encounter in Bihar’s Bhojpur district in which Bharat Tiwari, a man the police said was mentally unstable, was shot dead. After visiting Tiwari’s village and meeting his family, Kishor also expressed dissatisfaction with the judicial probe ordered by the Samrat Choudhary government. He said the inquiry should be conducted by a sitting judge, not a retired judge, and should go beyond Bhojpur district. Read Full Story Speaking to journalists before a panchayat held in protest against Tiwari’s killing, Kishor said, “The deceased’s family members have made it clear that they want no compensation, no government jobs on compassionate grounds.
All they seek is justice. That is the sentiment I, too, express.” Referring to the family’s recent meeting with him in Patna, days after Tiwari was killed on June 17, he said, “The judicial inquiry must not stop at probing the role of police officials posted in Bhojpur. It must dig deeper and fix accountability at the top.” Kishor further said, “It must be investigated as to whether the police in Bhojpur had pulled the trigger of its own accord, or was it acting under instructions from top officials in Patna. So the role of big shots in the state headquarters...the DGP, the Home department, all must be looked into.” Tiwari’s family, whose case has sparked outrage on social media, has rejected the police claim that he was mentally unstable.
However, they said the 28-year-old, who was unemployed, had become a social and political activist and that many of his social media posts had angered the local administration, leading the police to arrive at their home on the day of the incident. The killing in the district bordering Uttar Pradesh has been blamed by critics of the BJP on what they describe as Samrat Choudhary’s eagerness to follow the “bulldozer justice” model of the Yogi Adityanath government. The anger, especially among Brahmins, has caused concern in the ruling party ahead of the Assembly polls due in the neighbouring state in about six months. The ruling NDA in Bihar has accused the opposition of trying to create trouble. Senior minister Shrawon Kumar, who is also the JD(U)’s legislative party leader, said the opposition was trying to “score political points”.
“We, too, are sad over the incident, a reason why a judicial probe has been ordered. Let there be no doubts in the people’s mind that the rule of law, which was the hallmark of the administration under our leader Nitish Kumar, is continuing under Samrat Choudhary,” he added. The case has now turned into a wider political issue, with Kishor demanding a broader judicial inquiry into the encounter and the state government defending its response while accusing the opposition of using the incident for political gain. Ends
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