Ex-minister Ashwini Choubey seeks SIT probe into Lalit Narayan Mishra's killing

New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) BJP leader and former Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey demanded on Tuesday that the Centre order an SIT probe into the killing of Lalit Narayan Mishra, a Union Cabinet minister who died in a bomb attack in 1975, without any delay as earlier probes had "failed" to ensure justice.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a two-day tour of Bihar later this week, Choubey said he will seek to meet him to take up the issue as the case has agitated the state and the community, a reference to Brahmins, he came from for decades.

Accompanied by Mishra's grandson and lawyer Vaibhav Mishra, who has been exploring the legal means to reopen the case, the Bihar leader alleged that then top leaders of the Congress were behind Mishra's killing due to his rising popularity.

Mishra was a popular railway minister and he might have come out against the then Indira Gandhi government due to the agitation led by Jaiprakash Narayan against her, he claimed.

Choubey, who was a minister in the Modi government, is seen as an outspoken leader and has at times discomfited the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with his views, more so after he was denied a Lok Sabha poll ticket in 2024.

He referred to the reports of the Justice V M Tarkunde Commission and Bihar Police CID to note that those had spoken about a large political conspiracy behind Mishra's killing.

"He was a big Bihari talent. The people of Bihar should not be denied justice and the government must constitute an SIT (Special Investigation Team) without any delay," Choubey said, suggesting that followers of the Ananda Marga sect were framed for the killing.

He dismissed suggestions that it was too late as Mishra was killed more than 50 years ago, saying the suspicious death of Subhas Chandra Bose and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were probed long after they occurred. Mishra should also be given Bharat Ratna, he added.

Mishra was a rising leader from Bihar before his untimely death at 51 years of age. His younger brother, Jagannath Mishra, took over his political legacy and became the state's chief minister. PTI KR RC