Patna, June 10: The state police headquarters has taken a serious exception to the manner East Champaran superintendent of police (SP) prevented the Chhatauni police from taking action against the accused in a sensational murder case.

Additional director-general (CID) Alok Raj sent a letter to East Champaran superintendent of police Sunil Kumar on Monday seeking a detailed report on an official order issued from his (SP's) office on June 6 in connection with the case pertaining to the murder of an LPG dealer, Ajay Yadav.

Ajay, a prominent cooking gas dealer, was shot at and critically injured by unidentified criminals near Anand Hotel on the Bank Road while returning home from his agency's office on April 8. He later succumbed to his injuries at a Patna hospital. The police apprehended the involvement of contract killers in Ajay's murder.

The ADG's letter, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, also questioned the SP's credentials and his alleged partisan role. "Your conduct as well as role has come under clout due to unprofessional approach," the letter says, asking him to make amendments in the previous order.

The SP, in his report issued on June 6, had asked the investigating officer of the case not to take any coercive action against the accused as the case had already been handed over to the CID for further investigation. The SP's report quoted Raj saying that a CID probe had been ordered into the case (No. 59/15) lodged with the Chhatauni police station.

Raj said today that he had asked the SP to provide him the status of the case and the action initiated by the local police and not about the CID probe as mentioned in his (SP's) letter addressed to the Chhatauni police station house officer. "It seems that he misunderstood the message and issued a letter putting a ban on the action in the case. I had earlier sought a report from him in the wake of a petition submitted to the director-general of police (DGP) P.K. Thakur by one of the relatives of the accused," Raj clarified.

He added: "The report was needed to ascertain the veracity of the statement of the petitioner and nothing else."

SP Sunil was not available for his comments. However, an officer at his office said that five out of the eight accused in the case have already been arrested and sent to jail. "The remaining three are at large. Orders of attachment of their property have also been obtained from the court," he added.

The SP had earlier revealed that the charges against all the accused were found to be true.

Additional reporting by R.N. Sinha from Motihari