Police yet to nab killer, Jamshedpur shut

Akhilesh reportedly runs an extortion racket with a 10-member gang. He is wanted in at least half a dozen cases of murder, kidnapping and extortion, besides being the main accused in the murder of a Jamshedpur jailer in 2000.

According to sources, Akhilesh had kept Kabra hostage for over a week last year in July, after the businessman refused to pay him Rs 5 lakh ransom. Kabra returned home after reportedly coughing up Rs 3 lakh, with a promise to pay the rest later.

It is not known whether Kabra later paid Akhilesh, but he was shot dead in front of his shop yesterday morning by two men riding a motorcycle. The shooters are yet to be identified but police suspect them to be of Akhilesh’s gang.

Soon after the murder, the members of Jamshedpur-based Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Adityapur Small Industries’ Association and Singhbhum Industries’ Association held an emergency meeting and decided to observe today’s bandh.

Some businessmen also gheraoed Chief Minister Babulal Marandi, who was in Jamshedpur for the India vs West Indies one-dayer. ‘‘Even if he (Akhilesh) is hiding in patal, police will catch him,’’ Marandi is reported to have told them.

According to a senior police officer, Akhilesh has so far managed to give the slip to the force because of his father’s connections. ‘‘Every detail of our plan was passed on to the criminal and his gang. This made our task to catch him all the more difficult,’’ he said.

IG (Chhotanagpur) Rajiv Kumar said the police would leave no stone unturned to arrest Akhilesh. ‘‘Very soon, he will be behind bars.’’