Ranjit Bachchan murder: 4 detained; police to interrogate Hindu Mahasabha chief's second wife

New Delhi: The Lucknow Police probing the murder of Vishva Hindu Mahasabha leader Ranjit Bachchan, who was shot dead by two bike-borne militants on Sunday, has detained four persons in connection with the case. The Special Task Force of Lucknow police detained the people from Gorakhpur and Raebareli on Monday (February 5).

According to sources, police are investigating all possible angles in the murder case and are likely to question Ranjit's second wife Smriti today. The police is also likely to interrogate a Gorakhpur property dealer, who was considered to be close to Ranjit.

Ranjit was shot at multiple times near the Chhattar Manzil in Lucknow's Hazratganj area on February 1 in a broad daylight. A resident of OCR building in Hazratganj area, he was attacked when he was taking a stroll at the Global Park along with his brother. He was immediately rushed to Lucknow Trauma Centre where he succumbed to his injuries.
Ranjit's younger brother Aaditya, who was with him at the time of the incident, also received a bullet injury in his hand. 

Following the incident, the Uttar Pradesh administration suspended four police officials, including two PRV police personnel, a constable and an outpost in-charge. According to the police, Ranjit had been receiving death threats for some time. The police also released CCTV footage of the murder suspect and announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for any information about any suspect's whereabouts. 

Sources told the news agency that Ranjit was also associated with the Samajwadi Party in the past and participated in several cycle rallies.

Reacting to the incident, the Samajwadi Party blamed the Yogi Adityanath government in the state for the deteriorating law and order situation and asked him to resign immediately.

This was the second murder of a Hindu leader in the state capital in the past four months. In October 2019, Kamlesh Tiwari, president of the Hindu Samaj Party, was shot dead in his office by two assailants, who had befriended him by creating a fake Facebook ID. This led to multiple arrests from various states including Gujarat and Maharashtra.