Bihar ‘fake encounter’: PK slams CM Samrat Choudhary, says a cop cannot fire without orders from Patna

New Delhi: Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, who has been keeping a low profile since his Jan Suraaj Party’s (JSP’s) disastrous electoral debut, has targeted Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary over the alleged fake police encounter of 28-year-old Bharat Bhushan Tiwari.

On Wednesday, Kishor, also known as PK, visited Tiwari’s family and demanded action against the police as well as those who “orchestrated it”.

“Will the role of the Home Minister also be investigated? Will the officer of the STF who gave the order to shoot from Patna be investigated? The role of the Home department should be investigated. A police officer cannot fire without orders from Patna, therefore, an investigation should find out who gave the order to open fire,” he said.

According to local media reports, Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, a resident of Bilauti village in Bhojpur’s Shahpur area, often highlighted issues such as flooding, river erosion and displacement on social media. He was killed on 17 June.

CM Samrat Choudhary, who holds the home portfolio, has been facing flak from within, even from BJP ministers. Several BJP leaders, including Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari, BJP national secretary Rituraj Sinha, Buxar MLA Anand Mishra, and senior BJP leader Ashwani Choubey, have expressed concern over the incident.

PK has often criticised Choudhary in the past. Ahead of last year’s Bihar elections, he had accused Choudhary of never passing his matriculation exam. Following these allegations, the BJP had got an FIR registered against Kishor, accusing him of damaging Choudhary’s reputation.

On Wednesday, Kishor visited Bilauti village, where Tiwari was killed. “There must be a judicial enquiry into who carried out the killing, as well as those who ordered it. We demand that the investigation include everyone involved,” he told the media.

He further said that if action is not taken against the guilty, they will carry out a demonstration outside Choudhary’s Patna residence within 15 days. 

An FIR was registered against several police officers in Bihar’s Bhojpur district in connection with Tiwari’s killing, on the basis of a written complaint filed by the youth’s mother. 

After meeting Tiwari’s family, Kishor said: “We are demanding, on behalf of his mother, sister-in-law, and sister, that justice means investigating not only those who carried out the murder but also those at whose behest it was done. Those who created that situation…he wasn’t mad; the system and the officers drove him to that mental state where he couldn’t understand how to deal with them.”

Kishor said the direct demand of the victim’s family is clear—they don’t want money, compensation, or a job but justice. 

“Justice will happen only when action is taken against both the one who committed the murder and the one who orchestrated it. The victim’s mother also believes this,” he added. 

Kishor said a narrative was being pushed that Tiwari was mentally unstable. “Those on whose orders this murder was committed should also be investigated, who created the situation. People are telling you today that the boy had gone mad. He was not mad; your system, the officers, reduced him to such a state that he was unable to understand how to deal with them. He was fighting for the rights of the people – for electricity and water. If you shot him, then the matter will not be resolved by suspending four constables.” 

The JSP leader added: “Samrat Choudhary said, how can someone show a gun to our police? My brother, this is the result of a statement by such an insensitive leader in Bihar, who thinks that policing means firing bullets. Policing is not about shooting.”

Kishor further said that the job of the police is not to shoot, but to protect. “And when rakshak becomes bhakshak (protector becomes destroyer), society will have to stand up. Bharat Bhushan Tiwari’s family is not alone and we are all with them. A judicial inquiry has been announced but not much details have emerged. Will the home minister be probed too? Will the STF official also be probed?” 

With the Bihar government facing pushback from within the BJP, the Jan Suraaj Party has intensified its attack, carrying out a protest in Patna.

The controversy deepened after the Bhojpur police reportedly provided two different justifications in two press statements released by the Superintendent of Police (SP) office on 16 and 17 June. 

In one of the statements issued on 16 June, the police reportedly stated that the Shahpur police station had received information about a “mentally unstable” man roaming around carrying a weapon. It further said that efforts were made to recover the weapon from his possession and shift him to a mental health facility.

However, the next day, when the alleged fake encounter took place, another police statement said they had received information that an individual named Bharat Bhushan Tiwari was brandishing a pistol and firing into the air.

The police in the statement further claimed that they along with Bhojpur STF team called upon him to surrender; but he began to fire intermittently at them. Sensing a threat to their lives, the statement added, they tried to close in on the individual, but he didn’t stop.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)

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