In a major development related to the murder mystery of former Deputy Mayor Neeraj Singh in Dhanbad, the Police on Thursday claimed that they have received important leads in this regard which will help them in reaching out to real culprits.
Meanwhile, shops and other business establishments remained completely shut down in Dhanbad following the day long ‘bandh’ called by Congress party against the shootout during which Neeraj Singh along with his three other associates got killed leaving one person injured.
“Several important leads have been received which will help us further in reaching out to the real culprits,” said CID ADG Ajay Kumar Singh after interrogating the only eyewitness Aditya Kumar Singh, who was present in the vehicle while the shootout took place. The eyewitness’s statement was important but could not be disclosed before the media, he added.
Reiterating that political rivalry, conflict over dominance or family feud might be one of the reasons behind the shootout, the ADG also added that the investigations were still going on.
Surprisingly, Aditya had disappeared from the site immediately after getting injured during the shootout on Tuesday and remained underground till Thursday and was brought before the ADG for interrogation at Circuit House in Dhanbad.
In the meantime, an FIR was lodged at Saraidhela police station late in the night on Wednesday naming five persons, including BJP legislator Sanjeev Singh and a handful of other unknown persons.
Sanjeev Singh, however, talking to media persons on Thursday for the first time after the incident, rejected the allegations leveled against him and offered full support in the probe being conducted by the Special Investigating Team.
“I am also shocked to hear about the incident which is purely a subject of investigation. As far as my cooperation is confirmed, I am ready to support in the investigations and will not go out of Dhanbad,” said the BJP legislator. He claimed that he was at his residence at the time of incident which could be verified by police through investigations, he added.
On the demands of a CBI probe made by Congress Party, Singh said that he was ready for any kind of investigation and will be present before the investigating team whenever they call him or his associates.
“I got to know from the media itself that I have been made a named accused along with my younger brother Siddhartha Gautam alias Manish, Political Advisor Gaya Singh, legal Advisor Mahant Pandey and one of his elder brother Rajiv Ranjan’s friend Jainendra Singh,” said the BJP legislator.
Neeraj Singh was brutally killed along with his three other associates during an indiscriminate firing by four unidentified persons allegedly from AK-47 Rifles while he was on the way to his residence on Thursday evening. As soon as his vehicle slowed down on speed breakers, the gunmen waiting for him for quite some time started firing indiscriminately at his SUV. More than 50 rounds of bullets were fired from AK-47 out of which, Singh, seated on the front seat of the vehicle took 17 bullets.