Out on morning walk, Hindu Mahasabha’s UP president shot dead

The president of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha’s Uttar Pradesh unit was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne men in the heart of Lucknow’s Hazratganj area on Sunday morning, officials said.

Ranjeet Bachchan, a resident of Gorakhpur district, was on a morning walk along with another person when the men fired at them near the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) building in Hazratganj.

Bachchan died on the spot and the other person was critically injured. He is undergoing treatment at the trauma centre of King George’s Medical University (KGMU).

A sub-inspector of police, who is a member of the investigation team, said the assailants tried to snatch Ranjeet Bachchan’s gold chain and cell phone during the attack.

“In the scuffle, the assailants fired on Ranjeet Bachchan’s head, who died on the spot. In the firing, Ranjeet was injured and was rushed to Trauma Centre,” he said.

However, this could be a ploy of the assailants to make the crime look like a loot attempt rather a planned murder, the officer said.

Deputy commissioner of police (central Lucknow) Dinesh Singh said Ranjit Bachchan received the bullet injury on his head and the person injured in the attack is out of danger.

“Forensic experts are scanning the spot. We have been scanning CCTVs and probing the case from all angles. The culprits will be behind the bars soon,” Singh said.

He also said six teams have been constituted to probe the case and nab the culprits.

Bachchan’s family has rushed to Lucknow after hearing the news.

“We are yet to talk to the family members,” another police official said.

This is the second killing of a right-wing Hindu leader in the state capital in the recent past.

Kamlesh Tewari, the national president of the Hindu Samaj Party, was killed at his Khurshed Bagh residence in October last year.