DGP Abhayanand

Ara (Bhojpur), June 1: Conspiracy theories abound following the chilling murder of Brahmeshwar Singh “Mukhiya” with the police still trying to figure out the motive behind the daring attack.

One section of Ara residents believes that Mukhiya’s growing popularity and political ambition led to his killing.

Mukhiya became active soon after coming out of jail in July 2011. As the Ranvir Sena had virtually become a non-existent entity, Mukhiya decided to form an organisation to reunite the farmers of Shahabad region.

In April this year, he formed an outfit named Akhil Bharatiya Rashtrawadi Kisan Sangathan. Mukhiya toured several districts, including Buxar, Rohtas and Kaimur, to garner the support of the farmers.

“He was fighting for the cause of the farmers, particularly those whose ownership rights faced threat due to movement of ultra-Left organizations,” said Bipin Rai, a resident of Kuchhila village in Kaimur district.

Though Mukhiya always dismissed any plans of joining active politics, his supporters said he wanted to emerge as the undisputed leader of a particular dominant caste so that no political party could ignore his influence in the region.

However, another section of his castemen feels differently. They say Mukhiya’s re-emergence on the political landscape was proving to be a bigger impediment for younger men with political ambitions.

“The emergence of a new leadership was not possible so long as Mukhiya was active in the region,” said a resident of Belaur under cover of anonymity.

The circuit house in Ara set ablaze on Friday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Some others feel the murder may be the fallout of brewing discontent among the Left-wing extremists after acquittal of all the accused in the Bathani Tola massacre by Patna High Court in April. The acquittal led to strong protest by Left organisations, which have a pre-announced chakka jam agitation lined up for Saturday.

An activist of the CPI-ML (Liberation), Sudama Prasad, has been sitting on a dharna near the Ara collectorate for the past four days in protest against the acquittals. “Mukhiya became a victim of internal conflicts in his organization,” Prasad said.

CPI-ML (liberation) office secretary Kumar Pervez described the murder as the result of anger of the deprived sections of society. In a statement, Pervez said the situation would have been different had the government taken appropriate steps to bring the culprits of the Bathani Tola massacre to justice.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and LJP boss Ram Vilas Paswan have demanded a CBI probe into the killing of Mukhiya. Describing the law and order situation in the state as “shattered”, Lalu said the people of Bihar were so angry that they did not allow the administration to lift the body of Mukhiya for several hours.