Day after INLD leader’s murder, Haryana govt. vows CBI probe; 12, including ex-BJP MLA, booked

Haryana Home Minister announces CBI probe into killing of INLD State president; Opposition demands discussion on law and order.

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij announced in the Assembly on Monday that the probe into the killing of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) State president Nafe Singh Rathee would be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after the Opposition Congress moved an adjournment motion demanding a discussion on the law and order situation in the State.

“If the House is only satisfied with a CBI probe, then I assure the members that we will investigate the case only through the CBI,” Mr. Vij said, responding to the motion, which was admitted by Speaker Gian Chand Gupta after the Congress sought a High Court judge-monitored CBI probe into the killing.

The Home Minister, however, denied the Opposition’s charge that law and order had collapsed in the State. He said the State police are investigating the case, but he cannot share the details at present.

Rathee, a two-time MLA who served as Bahadurgarh Municipal Council chairman and national president of the Indian Style Wrestling Association of India, and INLD worker Jai Kishan were killed when assailants sprayed their SUV with bullets in Jhajjar’s Bahadurgarh town on Sunday evening.

According to the FIR, the assailants told Rathee’s nephew, Rakesh, who was driving the vehicle, that they were sparing his life so that he could warn his family. Twelve people, including former BJP MLA Naresh Kaushik and former Minister Mange Ram Rathi’s son Satish and grandson Gaurav, were booked in connection with the killing, the police said.

In his complaint, Rakesh said they were returning from a social event in Asoda village when he noticed that they were being chased by five men in a white car. He told the police that Rathee was sitting next to him and two persons, including the INLD worker, were in the rear seat. He tried to speed away, but had to stop near the Barahi railway crossing as the gates were closed. The five men then stepped out of their car and fired indiscriminately at them, the complainant said.

One of the assailants came to the driver’s window and told Rakesh that he was sparing his life so he could inform his family that if they go to court against them, then they would kill the whole family, according to the FIR.