Nitish gives stern order to DGP on IndiGo manager's killing

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar onWednesday ordered state police chief that the killers ofIndiGo's airport manager Rupesh Kumar Singh should be arrestedat the earliest.

Kumar enquired about the latest update from the DirectorGeneral of police S K Singhal on the high-profile murder casein the state capital the previous evening and issued strictinstructions to ensure conviction and harshest punishment tothe culprits by conducting speedy trial in the case, anofficial statement said here.

The IndiGo's airport manager was sprayed with bulletswhile he was inside his SUV waiting for the gates of hisresidence in Punaichak locality in the city to open after hisreturn from office on Tuesday evening.

The DGP informed the CM that an SIT has been constituted tocrack the case, the statement said.

Kumar sternly told the police chief to act tough againstthe criminals in the killimng that has triggered nationaloutrage.

The CM, who has taken the murder of the station managerseriously, said he is constantly monitoring the case.

Singh (40) was shot dead at the main gate of his apartmentunder Shastri Nagar police station in the heart of the statecapital.

Footage of a CCTV installed on an adjacent street suggestthat the assailants were two in number and rode a motorcycle,police sources said.

They said that the killers, who had their backs to theCCTV camera as they sped away, appear to have been followingSingh from the airport, which is about three km away.

Facing widespread criticism, the Bihar police during theday claimed to be in the possession of ''vital clues'' in themurder case.

Police team reached the airport in the afternoon forinvestigation. They are expected to study the CCTV footage ofthe previous day for identifying the attackers.

Deputy SP (Sachivalaya) Rajesh Singh Prabhakar, who ispart of the Special Investigating Team formed by the zonal IGfor cracking the case, told reporters, ''We have some vitalclues which we would not like to divulge right now. But, weare confident that the culprits would be caught soon.'' The post-mortem report of the deceased was awaited, headded.

There was an outpouring of grief for Singh, survivedby wife and two children less than 10 years of age, who wasknown to be sociable and, by virtue of his job profile, closeto many powerful politicians and bureaucrats in the state.

The gruesome murder drew strong criticism from theopposition as well as from many BJP leaders.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav tweeted, ''If Nitish Kumar isnot able to control law and order, he should resign.'' Congress national general secretary Tariq Anwar said thatthe incident is ample proof that Nitish Kumar has lost grip onlaw and order.

Sunil Kumar Pintu, an MP from Kumar's own party JD(U),said, ''Our leader's commitment to maintaining law and orderwill bear no fruits until and unless officials concerned pullup their socks''.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Thakur said that the stategovernment must hand over the case to the CBI if the policefails to solve it within five days.

Controversial former MP and Jan Adhikar Party chiefPappu Yadav also pointed to Singh's ''high profile connections''and stressed on the need for a thorough inquiry.

BJP's Maharajganj MP Janardan Singh Sigriwal said, ''Ihad pulled some strings for getting Rupesh, whose family hasbeen known to me since long, transferred from Kolkata toPatna. I had never thought of such a tragic end to such apromising life''.

''It is time that laws are amended and provisions madefor public execution of perpetrators of crime in order tostrike terror in the hearts and minds of hardened criminals,''he said.

Meanwhile, at the paternal residence of the deceasedin Saran district, the wails of the bereaved father rent theair.

''After my son came to Patna, I was feeling relievedthat upon my death, he would be certainly here in time to lendhis shoulder to the bier. What bigger misfortune for a fatherthan to end up doing the same for his offspring,'' he said.