All Jharkhand Students’ Union leader shot dead

A senior leader of the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) was shot dead while he was campaigning for his party’s candidate in Hazaribagh district’s Barhi, around 150 km from the state capital, Ranchi.

A senior leader of the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) was shot dead while he was campaigning for his party’s candidate in Hazaribagh district’s Barhi, around 150 km from the state capital, Ranchi.

The deceased AJSU leader, identified as Tileshwar Sahu, was the former chairman the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB).

Eyewitness accounts said Sahu was about to enter his four-wheeler after a meeting when he was fatally shot in the chest by an unidentified assailant. “One person has been arrested from the scene of the crime,” director general of police, Rajeev Kumar, said. "The identity of the accused could not be immediately ascertained," he added.

Similar attacks on Sahu were reported in the past. He was allegedly associated with a rebel Maoist outfit, Pahari Cheetah, which has rivalry with another powerful Maoists splinter group, People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI).

AJSU chief Sudesh Mahato said it was a political murder, and a move to weaken his party which has surfaced as the biggest threat to other political outfits in the state. He left Delhi for Ranchi immediately after the incident.