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On Sunday morning, Ranjit Bachchan, president of the Hindu Mahasabha’s Uttar Pradesh unit was shot dead by two men who remain as yet unidentified. Bachchan was on his morning walk near Globe Park in the Hazratganj area when he was shot in the head. His assailants fled the spot and remain at large.
In a statement, Joint CP of Lucknow Police Naveen Arora said, “The attacker had covered himself in a shawl and was on foot. He also snatched Ranjit’s mobile phone.” The UP Police has now formed six teams to investigate the case and has also announced a reward of Rs 50,000/- for information on the assailants. CCTV footage of the attack shows that the assailant was wearing a black shirt with ah light coloured shawl.
Meanwhile, Bachchan’s distraught wife Kalindi told India Today that her husband had been receiving threats. She said, “Ranjit didn’t file a police complaint on the threats he was receiving. He was confident that he will never be harmed under the Yogi Adityanath government. We lost our child a few years ago and now, I have suffered another unbearable pain. The perpetrators behind this brutal murder should be arrested soon and the strictest possible action should be taken against them.” Bachchan originally hailed from Gorakhpur and had also been associated with the Samajwadi Party in the past.
This is the second such high-profile murder of a prominent Hindutva leader in the state. On October 18, 2019, Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari had also been killed in a rather gruesome manner at his home in Naka Hindola in Lucknow. His post-mortem report revealed that he was not only shot once, but also stabbed 15 times!