Tileshwar Sahu, central secretary of the All Jharkhand Students’ Union, was shot dead at Barhi in Hazaribagh, on his way to a Women’s Day public function on Saturday.
The AJSU recently made him in charge of the Chatra Lok Sabha constituency, and it was likely to announce his candidature, leaders said.
The motorcycle-borne assailants shot Sahu soon after he left home. One of them was caught by people and the weapon seized. “The others escaped,” said Director-General of Police Rajeev Kumar.
The Hazaribagh Superintendent of Police said one of the assailants, Suraj Kumar, who was arrested at the site, admitted to committing the crime at the behest of the People’s Liberation Front of India (PLFI), a Left-Wing extremist group. A country-made pistol was recovered from him.
“Mr. Sahu had a number of criminal cases against him, and we cannot say with certainty whether the motive was political rivalry,” a senior police officer said.
AJSU workers blocked roads in Hazaribagh, demanding a probe. The party has called a State-wide bandh for Sunday.
“Mr. Sahu was very popular among his community and others. He faced many attempts on his life and sought protection. But the government has failed to protect him. This is an attempt to demoralise AJSU workers but it will not succeed,” AJSU spokesperson Devsharan Bhagat said.
Sahu was a former president of the Chotanagpur Teli Uthan Samaj and served as chairman of the State Pollution Control Board in the Arjun Munda-led BJP government during 2005-06. He was credited with getting Independent MLA Enos Ekka to back the BJP government at the time, though Mr. Ekka withdrew support and joined Madhu Koda’s government soon after.
Sahu complained of threats after his father Gajendra Sahu was shot dead in Gumla district in 2008. He blamed Mr. Ekka, then Rural Development Minister, for his father’s death, a charge Mr. Ekka denied.