Out on morning walk, Hindu Mahasabha’s UP president shot dead

Tribune News Service
Lucknow, February 2

The president of a little known organisation, International Hindu Mahasabha, Ranjeet Bachchan, was shot dead on Sunday morning in the heart of Lucknow when he was on a morning walk with his cousin.

Reacting to the murder in a posh area of the city, Lucknow Commissioner Sujeet Pandey has suspended four police officials, including the police post in-charge of Parivartan chowk Sandeep Tiwari, and three police officers in the PCR van parked at Parivartan chowk.

The incident occurred at 6.30 am at Globe Park, a stone’s throw from the CSIR’s Central Drug Research Institute.

A resident of Gorakhpur, Bachchan was shot dead a day after his 40th birthday. The lone attacker reportedly fired at Bachchan’s face from extremely close quarters

Ranjeet Bachchan, originally a resident of Gorakhpur district, was on a morning walk along with his cousin Aditya when a man fired at them on the pavement of the Globe Park near Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) building in Hazratganj.

The attacker fired at Ranjeet’s face killing him on the spot and injuring his cousin Aditya.

Aditya is undergoing treatment at King George’s Medical University’s (KGMU) Trauma Centre where the doctors are describing his condition as stable and out of danger.

According to the post-mortem report, Bachchan had been hit on the nose from close quarters and he died due to excessive bleeding.

Sources claim he was probably hit by a 9mm pistol that is usually used by professional killers.

Lucknow Additional Commissioner of Police Naveen Arora said the two mobile phones of the deceased have been recovered from the murder site.

A team of the cyber cell is examining the data of the mobile phone and the CCTV footage of the area is being scrutinised, he said.

Eight police teams have been put on the job. An FIR had also been lodged against Bachchan in Gorakhpur. The police are examining all angles of the case.

On interrogation, the injured cousin has revealed that the International Hindu Mahasabha leader did not get along with his first wife in Gorakhpur.

“The assailant was on foot and approached Ranjeet asking him for his cell phone to make a call. The assailant fired on Ranjeet’s face, killing him on the spot,” Assistant Commissioner of Police (Hazratganj circle) Abhay Mishra said.

Bachchan’s family from Gorakhpur has rushed to Lucknow after hearing the news. He lived with his second wife in Hussainganj area.

His brother-in-law Manoj Kumar Sharma said Bachchan on Saturday had also organised an event in support of CAA and NRC.

Bachchan’s killing comes less than four months after the broad daylight killing of another extreme right wing Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tewari in his house in Khurshed Bagh area on October 18.