VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, March 29: The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday briefly heard the bail petition of former Tamar MLA Raja Peter in Ramesh Singh Munda murder case investigated by the National Investigation Agency.
The criminal revision petition was heard by a Division bench of Justice S Chandrashekhar and Justice Ratnakar Bhengra. Lawyers appearing on behalf of Raja Peter said that he was innocent and he was falsely implicated in the case. The court directed the NIA to make its submission on Wednesday.
On October 9, 2017, the NIA arrested Raja Peter for allegedly masterminding the 2008 murder of then JD-U MLA from Tamar Ramesh Singh Munda. He was arrested a day after the NIA arrested the bodyguard of the slain MLA, ASI Sheshnath Singh. The NIA charged ASI Sheshnath Singh, then a part of MLA Munda’s security cover, with sharing the details of his itinerary with rebels to facilitate the murder.
MLA Munda was shot dead in the high noon of rebel violence in Jharkhand on July 9, 2008, at SS High School at Bundu where he had gone to attend a programme as a chief guest. He was shot dead along with two bodyguards Shiv Nath Minj and Md Khurshid and a boy Ram Dhan Patar by the dreaded Maoist Kundan Pahan and his men. Kundan Pahan is also an accused in this case and he is in jail after he surrendered. Pahan’s Maoist brother Rammohan Singh Munda, who also surrendered had claimed that Raja Peter had masterminded the MLA murder.
The Jharkhand Police had registered a case 65/2008 under sections 302, 379, 120B and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, section 27 of the Arms Act and section 17 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act in this regard. During the investigation, sections 18, 20 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 were added. The NIA took over the investigation on June 30, 2017.
The NIA had searched Peter’s Vasundhara Apartment residence in Bariatu besides his Bundu house and his Tamar house-cum-office. The NIA had seized seven diaries, two cellophanes, one CD, and one revolver licensed to Peter. Besides, a letter was also recovered. Two other accused Prafull Kumar Mahto and Jaiganesh were arrested in the killing of Munda.
