Another Hindu Leader Shot Dead In Lucknow

Lucknow: The state president of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha was shot dead near the Chhattar Manzil on Sunday morning here.

He has been identified as Ranjit Srivastava. However, the police said, he was not Srivastava but was Yadav.

In October, another right-wing leader, Kamlesh Tiwari, had been shot dead in his office in Lucknow.

Ranjit Srivastava, also known as Ranjit Bachchan and Ranjit Yadav, was on a morning walk when he was shot by bike-borne assailants. He received multiple bullet injuries in the head and died on the spot.

Srivastava's brother, who was with him at the time of the incident, also received bullet injuries and has been admitted to the Trauma Centre of the King George's Medical University (KGMU).

Ranjit Srivastava lived in the OCR building and belonged to Gorakhpur.

This is the first major crime in the state capital after the police commissionerate system was implemented in Lucknow on January 14.

The post-mortem report of Ranjit Bachchan a.k.a. Ranjit Yadav, says he was shot at from a point blank range near the nose. The death occurred due to excessive bleeding.

Sources said that he was shot at from a 9 mm pistol which is used by professional shooters.

Additional Police Commissioner (ACP), Naveen Arora, said the police had seized two mobile phones from the scene of the crime and the cyber cell was now working on the call details. The CCTV footage of the area was also being scanned.

Initial investigations have shown that the Hindu leader had two wives -- one in Gorakhpur and another in Lucknow.

There was a dispute with his first wife who lived in Gorakhpur and she had even registered an FIR against him.

The ACP said that eight police teams had been set up to nab the accused.

Four policemen of the area, including station in-charge Sandeep Tiwari, have been suspended for dereliction of duty.

Ranjit, born in Ahrauli Panchgava village, was fond of cycling and had undertaken a cycle Yatra in 2002.

He was also said to be an avid Amitabh Bachchan fan and had adopted the superstar's hairstyle. He even started using the Bachchan surname.

This is the second murder of a Hindu leader in the state capital in the past four months.

Kamlesh Tiwari, president of the Hindu Samaj Party, was shot dead in his office on October 18 by two assailants who had befriended him by creating a fake Facebook ID. This led to multiple arrests from various states including Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The accused persons said that they had been planning Tiwari's elimination since he gave a statement in 2015, showing disrespect to the Prophet.

Meanwhile, the police said that all exit and entry points in the state capital have been sealed and teams have been set up to identify and arrest the accused.

(IANS)