Bihar Dalit leader who accused Tejashwi Yadav of demanding money for party ticket shot dead

PURNEA: A 37-year-old Dalit leader was gunned down at his residence in Bihar's Purnea district on Sunday and his wife alleged that it was a political killing as her husband was preparing to contest Assembly election as an independent candidate after he was expelled from the RJD.

After the killing, a video in which the deceased, Shakti Malik, accused RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav of seeking Rs 50 lakh as donation to give him party ticket to contest the poll from Raniganj seat and threatening to eliminate him if he continues with his good work in the constituency, went viral.

The ruling JD(U) claimed that Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has exposed his true colours before the nation.

Repeated efforts to reach senior RJD leaders for their reaction were unsuccessful.

Police said that three bike-borne men entered the house of Shakti Malik in Purnea in the morning and shot him in the head while he was sleeping, killing him on the spot, and fled.

A country-made pistol and an empty cartridge were found from the spot, K Haat police station Station House Officer Sunil Kumar Mandal said.

Superintendent of Police Vishal Sharma and Sadar Sub- Divisional Police Officer Anand Pandey visited the spot.

In the video that went viral, Malik claimed that he, along with the RJD's SC/ST cell state unit president, met Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in Patna where the RJD leader sought Rs 50 lakh as donation to give him party ticket to contest Raniganj assembly constituency.

According to the video, when Malik said that he would let him know of his decision later, Tejashwi made a casteist remark against him and threatened to eliminate him.

It was not immediately clear when Malik made this statement to a Purnea based television channel.

The deceased's wife also alleged that there is a political conspiracy behind her husband's killing and named several leaders who could be involved in it.

JD(U) spokesman Rajiv Ranjan Prasad claimed that Malik was a Mahadalit and his family members' statements corroborate the allegations levelled by him.

"We have been raising the issue of dynastic politics, corruption, Tejashwi's inexperience especially in dealing with alliance politics but the latest allegations has completely exposed him," Prasad told reporters.

Allegations that RJD leaders distribute party tickets after taking money or land are not new, he alleged.

Prasad also alleged that Tejashwi's "concern" for Dalits was exposed when former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had to leave the Grand Alliance after the RJD leaderships shabby treatment meted out to him.