Prof’s killers untraced, teachers strike work in Bihar

Lal was shot point blank on Saturday after he reportedly refused to pay a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. Both doctors and high-income professors are targets of extortionists in Patna, and refusal to pay up can lead to death. Prof Lal, a reputed professor and author, was on his way to the college when two motorcycle-borne youth intercepted and shot him near Bazar Samiti in Saidpur locality, a few yards away from his house. Till late Sunday evening police had not made any breakthrough in the case. ‘‘It is too early to say anything on the case,’’ said City SP O M Bhaskar. Teachers’ association leaders say even in the 1995-assassination of Dr R N Pandey, a teacher at the Patna Training College, police have not made any arrests yet. There were two more assassinations of teachers even earlier which went unresolved. In 1979, Dr Raghuji Verma, teacher of Geology of Bihar College of Engineering, and in 1987, Dr Kamlendu Chatterjee of Chemistry Department of Science College, were killed.

Prof Lal was apparently under repeated threats from a gang that the police believe is of Bindoo Singh. Singh, hailing from Jahanbad district, operates around the Kankar Bagh locality in Patna where the professor ran his coaching institute. He is currently imprisoned in Beur jail but his henchmen are still in action, say police. Amarnath Singh, General Secretary of the Patna University Teachers’ Association, said teachers would abstain from invigilation work of Degree Part II examination now in progress and boycott the Degree Part I exam starting from Monday. He said teachers will try to invite President A P J Abdul Kalam’s attention to their predicament during his visit to Bihar next week.

Private tuition by teachers, though legally barred, is a flourishing industry in Patna. Though the educational system is on the verge of collapse in government colleges in the state, private tuition is thriving. The tuition fee charged depends on the academic reputation of the teacher — Prof Lal was among the top ones who reportedly had 1,800 students for his chemistry coaching for IIT and Medical Entrance examinations and charged on average Rs 5,000 per head. Teachers admit that it is impossible to run a coaching institute without paying up to the local gangsters regularly.