Chhattisgarh BJP leader shot, 2nd killing in a week

Sahu’s wife was the only family member present in the house at the time of the firing. The BJP leader was shot in the head and neck, said the police.

Sahu was rushed to a nearby hospital and later referred to Narayanpur District Hospital, where he succumbed to the bullet wounds.

“A post-mortem was conducted on Saturday morning at the district hospital. Prima facie it appears to be an attack by a small Maoist team. Further investigation and search operations are on,” said a police officer.

The officer said the two shells recovered from the crime spot look like those fired from an AK-47 but only a forensic analysis will confirm the source. Senior Maoists cadres are known to use AK-47, the officer added.

On February 5, Neelkanth Kakem, 48, BJP’s divisional head of Awapalli area in Bijapur district, was murdered by three Maoists. Kakem and his wife had gone to his village Paikram to meet his nephew when three men attacked him with sharp weapons, killing him on the spot. The attackers left a letter on the spot warning him and others not to participate in BJP activities, said the police.

BJP’s former Narayanpur MLA Kedar Kashyap said, “Sagar Sahu had received death threats two months ago and he had approached former SP Sadanand Kumar but no appropriate action was taken then.” Sadanand Kumar did not respond to calls from The Indian Express.

Current SP Pushkar Sharma said, “We did not receive any complaints from him (Sahu) in last one year.”

BJP national president J P Nadda, former chief minister Raman Singh and BJP’s Chhattisgarh president Arun Sao among other party leaders attended the last rites of Sahu in Narayanpur.

Raman Singh said the BJP is being targeted and its leaders are being killed. “The incompetent Congress government has kneeled before criminals. Dau (rich person) Bhupesh Baghel remember that every single murder will be accounted for… Now there will be real ‘justice’, not the ‘injustice’ of Congress,” he tweeted in Hindi.

Chhattisgarh BJP spokesperson Kedar Gupta said, “Maoists are playing holi with blood in Bastar. They are killing BJP leaders and workers in a targeted manner. On whose instructions are these killings being carried out? Another BJP leader was killed in Jagdalpur but the police said it was a hit-and-run case. We strongly condemn the killings and justice will be done for killing Adivasi leaders of BJP.”

A local BJP leader said Sahu never fought an election but was an active member of the BJP for 25 years. He was the chief of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha and was also active in promoting an iron ore mining site in Narayanpur. He had received threats for this and had informed the police. “Two years ago, Maoists had left a pamphlet in the jungle threatening Sahu,” said the BJP leader, requesting anonymity.