Agitators burn tyres near Sheikhpura referral hospital on Monday in protest against the murder of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh ‘Mukhiya’. Picture by Niranjan Kumar

Patna, June 4: The protest against the murder of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh ‘Mukhiya’ refused to die down even after four days of the incident.

The supporters of ‘Mukhiya’ today slapped a shutdown on Sheikhpura and staged demonstrations in various parts of the town. Life came to a halt in Sheikhpura because of road blockades by the protesters.

They blocked National Highway 80 at various areas, burnt tyres and forced shops and business establishments in the markets to keep their shutters down since morning.

The protesters pelted stones at the referral hospital building and a few private vehicles. Windscreens of at least 10 vehicles were smashed and the drivers were roughed up for not following the “diktats” of the bandh supporters. The policemen, who tried to tame the bandh supporters, had to face the protesters’ ire.

The situation was brought under control after the intervention of Sheikhpura district magistrate Birendra Prasad Yadav, who pacified the mob indulging in stone pelting and road blockade. “The situation is now normal in the town,” said Sheikhpura sub-divisional police officer Santosh Kumar.

Shops and business establishments also remained closed in Masaurhi Bazaar in Patna rural in protest against the Ranvir Sena chief’s murder. Mukhiya’s sympathisers took out a procession and enforced the closure of the local market to show solidarity with the protesters demanding CBI probe into the incident.

Adding fuel to the fire, the office-bearers of Akhil Bharatiya Rashtravadi Kisan Sangathan (ABRKS), which was formed by Mukhiya, have given an ultimatum to the state government to book the assailants of their leader.

“If the killers are not identified and arrested before the shradh karma (last rites) of Mukhiyaji, the sangathan will have no option but to launch an agitation,” said ABRKS central committee member Pawan Prakash Neeraj.

He blamed the state government for Mukhiya’s murder. “The ABRKS holds the government squarely responsible for the murder of Mukhiyaji because he was not provided security even after his repeated demand. He (Mukhiya) was even asked to surrender the licenced weapons. He had handed over one of the three licenced rifles to the district authorities,” Neeraj added. The ABRKS leader said the central committee would hold a meeting after the last rites of Mukhiya to elect a new leader.

When asked about the role of JD(U) legislator Narendra Kumar Pandey alias Sunil in the murder of Mukhiya, Mantu Singh, the ABRKS’s central committee member, said it was a matter of investigation.

“We want the investigation of the case to be handed over to the CBI. When we believe that Singh had been killed at the instance of the state government, how can we rely on the investigation carried out by its investigating agency (state police),” said another central committee member Sanjiv Kumar.

On the other hand, Pandey, who represents Tarari Assembly seat in Bhojpur, has apprehended threat to his life. Pandey, facing charges of murder, kidnapping and extortion, told reporters in Ara that he was apprehending attack in the wake of his name being dragged in Mukhiya’s killing.