BJP state vice president and prominent Bhojpur leader Visheshwar Ojha was shot dead on Friday evening at an Ara village when the leader had been talking to some people alongside road.
Ojha had unsuccessfully contested against RJD nominee and former MP Shivanand Tiwari’s son Rahul Tiwari from Shahpur constituency. This is the second murder of a politician in last 10 days since the killing of LJP Vaishali leader Brijnathi Singh.
Mr Ojha was Vice President of the BJP and was entangled in more than 10 criminal cases on charges including murder. He contested the Bihar elections last year unsuccessfully. Police sources said that they suspect Mr Ojha’s death may be the result of a long-standing enmity with a criminal named Harish Mishra who was recently freed from prison.
As soon as Visheswar got down from his car, around 10 masked men started shooting at him, pumping more than a dozen bullets in his body before fleeing, police said.
The driver, Ramesh Ojha, despite being injured, immediately took him to a hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Police recorded the statement of the eyewitnesses including some shopkeepers and passersby. “The neighbours showed us the route the assailants took to escape. Investigation is at a primary stage so it is difficult to say anything,” said Sahabad range DIG A Rehman.
This is the second incident of a BJP leader being gunned down in Bihar within a span of 24 hours. BJP worker Kedar Nath Singh’s bullet-ridden body was earlier recovered on Masarakh-Teraiya road in Saran district.
The incident took place at around 6.30 pm when Visheshwar Ojha (53) had sat in his vehicle after extending marriage invitation to a relative at Sonbarsha village of Shahpur. Some muffled assailants started spraying bullets on Ojha, who died on way to the hospital.
