Patna, Nov. 11: The Lok Janashakti Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan, today firmly stood behind his party MP and “don” Suraj Bhan Singh who stands an accused in the sensational murder of a Begusarai-based government lawyer Ram Naresh Sharma.

Armed assailants gunned down Sharma on November 8. He was representing prosecution side in several cases put on speedy trial against the LJP MP from Balia whose name strikes terror in the Ganga Diara.

“We seek a CBI inquiry into the case because the MP belongs to our party which is in the opposition in Bihar. The state police cannot do fair investigation in the case,” the Union chemical and fertiliser minister said.

Defending the MP who faces numerous cases of murder and kidnapping, Paswan said: “I do not know about the MP’s past. But he (Suraj Bhan) has been doing great service to the poor in the constituency he represents in the Lok Sabha.”

Suraj Bhan, who too was sitting by Paswan’s side, said: “I was with Nitish Kumar’s party earlier. Now I am in the LJP, which is in opposition in Bihar. I fear that the police in the control of the Nitish government may be fair to me.”

Paswan, however, expressed his shock and anguish at the murder of the lawyer.

“Ram Naresh Sharma was in the Sanyukta Socialist Party and a friend during the Jaiprakash Narayan-led Bihar movement. I am shocked at his death,” Paswan said describing the murder “a result of bad law and order situation in the state.”

Paswan said that the state police had the “tendency” to frame leaders belonging to opponent outfits.

“The CBI is in a position to carry out neutral investigation into the matter,” he said.

The family members of Sharma suspected that Suraj Bhan might have masterminded Sharma’s murder. The police have already named Suraj Bhan in the case.

At its meeting today, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) strongly condemned the murder of Sharma who was also a human rights activist associated with the PUCL.

The PUCL demanded the government to carry out speedy trial in the murder of the lawyer and appropriate punishment to the accused.