A postal department employee was shot dead at his home on Tuesday midnight for raising his voice against appointment irregularities.

Five armed criminals barged into victim Ram Naresh Pandey’s house at Nalanda’s Ganjpar village, around 40km east of Patna, on Tuesday and pumped three bullets into his body. He was 52.

Sunil Pandey, the victim’s brother, told police that Ram Naresh had exposed irregularities in the appointment of employees in the department in Nalanda and other districts for which he was murdered.

A senior official in the postal department in Patna also said that Ram Naresh was targeted for exposing corruption in the department.

“He was regarded as a whistle-blower among the employees in the department. Some appointments were made two-three years ago. Since then Ram Naresh had been raising the issue of irregularities for which he had to pay a heavy price,” he said.

The police on Wednesday said the assailants, armed with pistols, barged into Ram Naresh’s house under the jurisdiction of Hilsa police station at midnight. He died on the spot and the assailants escaped. He is survived by his wife and two children.

This, however, wasn’t the first attack on the victim who was posted at the Bhobhi post office in Nalanda district.

Ram Naresh was also the president of the Bihar Dak Seva Sangh. He had survived a murderous attack last month when some criminals opened fire on him while he was returning home from office. He had suffered bullet injuries in the attack carried out by motorbike-borne criminals.

Following last month’s attack, Ram Naresh had lodged an FIR against three persons — Dhirendra Patel, Bipin Singh and Shiv Balak Pandey. Sunil, however, alleged that no action was taken against any of them.

“He (Ram Naresh) had also complained to the senior officials about the callous attitude of the police officers,” Sunil added.

After last night’s attack, one of the persons named in the FIR was arrested.

“One of the suspects in the murder case, Dhirendra Patel, was arrested from his Biharsharif residence on Wednesday. He is being interrogated by senior police officers in connection with the murder case,” Rajesh Ranjan, the Hilsa police station house officer, told The Telegraph over phone from Nalanda.

Ranjan admitted that Ram Naresh had earlier lodged an FIR against the trio for attempting to murder him. “But the accused could not be arrested then as they were absconding,” he added.

All that means little to the victim’s family now though.

The family members blamed the police for the murder.

“Had the police initiated action against the attackers last month, he might have been alive today,” Sunil said, adding that he would take up the matter with senior officials in the home department.

The Tuesday midnight murder of Ram Naresh over his opposition to irregularities in the department isn’t a one-off case.

At least six persons have been murdered in Bihar over the past four years for exposing corruption in the execution of different welfare schemes. All six victims had exposed gross financial irregularities in centrally sponsored schemes by making use of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Thakur letter

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister C.P. Thakur has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Rajnath Singh and chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi requesting them for establishment of a police commissionerate in Patna.