Vaishali, June 2 :     The suicide by a Harijan officer following his humiliation by upper caste contractors has brought to the fore the influence wielded by the mafia in this ancient seat of republicanism. Ajay Pratap Rajjack (27) took charge as Block Development Officer in December last year, but he was inexperienced in tackling corrupt contractors with powerful links. Rajjack's problems began after he refused to clear payment due to a contractor, Mathura Singh, without scrutinising the papers. On May 3, Mathura (a Bhumihar by caste), accompanied by hired thugs, stormed Rajjack's office and abused him, saying: 'Dhobi BDO banta hai? Bomb se ura denge (A low caste dhobi has become a BDO? I will blow you up with a bomb).' This was followed by a series of scuffles between Rajjack and Mathura, who dragged the officer to court accusing him of demanding bribe to clear the payment. Shocked by the humiliation, Rajjack slipped into a state of depression and killed himself by swallowing an overdose of sleeping pills on May 21. But it was not until May 26, when the family discovered a suicide note in the almirah, that the murky saga unfolded. The incident took a political hue after the name of a state Cabinet minister figured in the case. Veena Shahi, the Congress MLA from Vaishali, allegedly interfered in the tussle between the contractors and Rajjack and asked the officer not to file a case under the Prevention of Atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act. She reportedly called up the Vaishali police station and directed it not to register the case under Section 307 which deals with murderous assaults. In his suicide note written on May 20 and addressed to his father, Rajjack said: 'Perhaps I don't fit in this system of caste discrimination. I have realised this after carrying on a futile battle against the society that surrounds me. I have seen similar incidents happening to you. This casteist society would not let me live. God made me a human being but the same human beings around me snipe at me as an untouchable Harijan. This social hatred will never end in Bihar. Please forgive me....' Confirming the May 3 attack by Mathura and three of his goons, Vaishali circle inspector Heera Muni Prabhakar said: 'I don't know the reason for the dispute. But after the BDO threatened to call the police, they (contractors) ran away. 'Apart from the hooliganism that we face, our equations with others depend on which caste one hails from. Even in government office, we are not treated at par,' he added. Rajjack's father, Deeplal Rajjack, a retired inspector-general of police, says his son was suffering mentally after the May 3 attack. 'Ajay was not the same person any more. He was stung by the insult on him for being a Harijan. He was restless,' he says. Deeplal said his son wanted to file a case against the contractor, but was persuaded by the minister against doing so. But instead the contractor filed a court complaint alleging that Rajjack had demanded a 25 per cent commission in lieu of clearing the bill. 'This shattered Ajay. He did not know how to get out of this rut. The bills that the contractor wanted to be cleared dated back to his predecessor in office. Ajay just wanted time,' his father said. On the night of May 20, a distraught Rajjack returned to his Patna home. He did not sleep and at 6 am he woke up his mother, complaining of chest pain and nausea. He died the following afternoon in Patna Medical College. The BDO's suicide has triggered howls of protest from political parties, especially the Left, which have demand an inquiry and a probe into the role of the Cabinet minister. Shahi said that although she knew Rajjack, she was not aware that he was suffering from depression. 'He told me about his fight with a contractor. I told him not to be cowed down by anyone for his name was Ajay (undefeated),' she said. Referring to the allegation levelled by the officer's father, Shahi said: 'I don't know why he is dragging my name. He is perhaps trying to gain political mileage from his son's death.' The minister, however, admitted that BDOs in the state often have to face threats from contractors.