RJD MLAs walk out of the Assembly in protest against deteriorating law and order in the state. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, March 6: The murder of a bank manager last evening in the state capital caught the government on the wrong foot today with the Opposition firing the law and order salvo to pin it down in the Assembly.

RJD MLAs shouted slogans in the well of the House in protest against the deterio-rating law and order when the Speaker rejected an adjourn-ment motion that sought a discussion on the issue.

Leader of the Opposition Abdul Bari Siddiqui pleaded with Speaker Uday Narain Choudhury to allow the adjournment motion, saying that the matter was of “ great public importance” .

Phanendra Shekhar Sinha, 40, the manager of the Bharathpura branch of Punjab National Bank, was shot dead in the Bikram police station area, about 35km from Patna.

Citing Sinha’s murder, Siddiqui said: “Such incidents are taking place in the city frequently and people are living in fear. It is a serious matter and a discussion should be held in the Assembly.”

Despite the Speaker’s repeated requests to the RJD legislators to return to their seats, the MLAs continued to stage demonstrations in the well of the House, displaying clippings of newspaper reports about the incident.

Water resources minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary opposed the RJD MLAs’ behaviour, saying they should have moved a motion in the House according to norms if they wanted to discuss law and order.

He, however, added that the government was serious about such issues.

“Probe would take place and the culprits would be punished. The government will also issue its formal comment on the issue of law and order during this session (of the Assembly),” Chaudhary said.

A resident of Police Colony in the Anisabad area, Sinha was shot dead by a motorcycle-borne criminal on Naubatpur-Dulhin Bazaar link road around 8.30pm when he was returning home from the bank. Though no one has been arrested so far, police claimed that they have ascertained the murder motive.

At the time of the attack, the deceased was accompanied by Vijay Kumar, who works in the bank as a peon. Kumar was unharmed and Police have detained him.

“Search is on to track down the suspects. About five persons were involved in the murder. Our suspicion became strong when we found their mobile phones switched off,” Patna SP (Rural) Manoj Kumar told The Telegraph today. The officer added that Sinha had apparently turned down loan applications of a few persons.

The state capital has witnessed a string of murders in the recent past. On March 3, some unidentified criminals shot dead a businessman, Ajay Shankar Tiwary, in front of his house in the Dwarika Puri area under Patrakar Nagar police station.

Power cut

A power cut of 10 seconds interrupted Assembly proceedings on Tuesday, leaving the Speaker and legislators in the dark.