The Telegraph: Ranchi: Saturday, June 09, 2018.
Once a
crusader, always a crusader - that would sum up who Suresh Oraon was.
The
30-year-old Central Coalfields (CCL) employee, who had invoked the RTI Act in
his fight against displacement in the past, was shot five times (not six as
reported earlier) during a meeting at Piparwar on Chatra-Ranchi border, 70km
from the capital, on Thursday morning.
While Chatra
police have formed two special teams to investigate the murder, whose motive is
yet unclear, people who knew the young man closely said he never gave up his
"war on injustice" and that might have earned him bullets.
Social
activist and friend Gopinath Ghosh said anti-displacement agitations topped
Oraon's agenda. "In fact, he was attending a meeting against extension of
CCL's mining activities in Purnadih when he was targeted," said Ghosh.
Three years
ago, Oraon, then a full-fledged RTI crusader, was offered the job of a surveyor
by CCL in lieu of his land. "Even while he was working at CCL, he was
fighting for other land losers, many of whom were not given jobs by the coal
PSU. Two months ago, he had staged a demonstration for local unemployed youths
whose land had been acquired for mining," Ghosh recalled.
The social
activist didn't mince words to say that Oraon might have been killed by the PSU
or the mining mafia. "After all, my friend was a public figure who fought
and won many battles against CCL (the Damodar pollution case) and several other
private companies involved in mining operations. If he had won many friends, he
had made enemies too. We want a judicial inquiry into his murder," Ghosh
added.
Nazir
Hussain, another associate of the deceased, said during anti-displacement
agitations three years ago, Oraon had filed several RTI pleas against CCL and
the local administration.
Chatra SP
Akhilesh B. Variar said they had sought cooperation of Ranchi police to crack
the murder. "The shooting took place on Khelari-Piparwar border. The
assailants may have been hired from outside (Chatra). The motive is not known
yet. We are investigating," he said.
A policeman
in Chatra said the way five rounds were fired from close range indicated that
whoever ordered Oraon's killing wanted to plug all chances of survival.
"Also, he was murdered in a public place, where tribals met every week.
That takes daring," the cop added.
Sources said
the two unidentified bikers asked a local lad to call Oraon to a desolate spot
near the meeting venue. Police neither confirmed nor denied that a boy was
employed to trap the deceased.