Ex-MLA Bima Bharti’s son hired killer for bizman’s murder, raid premises: Cops

PURNEA / PATNA: Police teams on Tuesday turned up at former lawmaker Bima Bharti’s residence in Patna and Rupauli to search for her son who is allegedly linked to the sensational murder of a 50-year-old shopkeeper on June 2.

A police officer said four men including the man who is accused of pulling the trigger on a hardware shop owner Gopal Yaduka have been arrested for the murder. During their interrogation, the alleged shooter Vishal Roy claimed that Bima Bharti’s son Raja hired him to kill Yaduka for ₹5 lakh.

Gopal Yaduka was shot dead soon after he opened his shop in Bhawanipur market on June 2, provoking local businesses to shut their shutters for two days in protest against the law and order situation in the area. Several political parties including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had then attacked the government over the incident.

Bima Bharti is a five-time MLA who joined the RJD in April this year after quitting the Janata Dal (United). Her husband, Awadhesh Mandal, an alleged gangster with many criminal cases, was recently released from prison. She contested the Lok Sabha elections from Purnea but lost to Pappu Yadav. She is due to re-contest from the Rupauli assembly segment.

The police teams reached her house on Tuesday soon after she met with RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and son Tejashwi Yadav.

“I must tell you I will fight till I am alive and no power can intimidate me,” Bima Bharti told reporters soon after police personnel reached her house looking for her son. She claimed he was falsely implicated in the case. “My husband Awadhesh Mandal got out of jail 10 days ago and now my son is being implicated… The government has become vindictive after I left JD-U.”

Bima Bharti rebuked police officers leading the search team for entering her official residence without informing her and in the absence of a female police officer. A police officer told her that they wanted to record her son’s statement at the moment, not arrest him. Bima Bharti told that he will show up at the Bhawanipur police station where the case had been lodged.

As police officers left the premises, they underlined that the search for her son would continue. An officer said Raja had gone underground after investigators arrested the four co-accused in the case; Brajesh Yadav, Vikash Yadav, Sanjay and Vishal Roy. Sanjay was a broker while Vishal Roy was the shooter.

“He can’t evade arrest for long,” the officer said.

Sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Sandeep Goldy who is leading the probing team said, “We have almost solved the case and soon all those who were involved in the murder of the businessman will be nabbed.”