Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday expressed grief over the suicide by an army veteran, allegedly over the non-implementation of the one rank-one pension scheme, and slammed the Centre for the tragedy.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad too lashed out at the Centre. He said jawans had been betrayed by the Narendra Modi government and if any jawan committed suicide out of frustration, it was shameful for the country and the situation was more dangerous than the Emergency. Earlier, Lalu announced that the RJD will give Rs 2 lakh ex gratia to the families of each martyr from Bihar.

On the other hand, Nitish said in a statement: "The incident (suicide by ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal) reflects the Centre's double standards towards soldiers." The Centre, he said, should comprehensively look into demands made by soldiers.

He criticised the role played by Delhi police in the episode. The Delhi police had detained and prevented Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other Opposition leaders from entering a hospital to meet the kin of Grewal.