RSS leader shot dead in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad

A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader was shot dead by unidentified criminals in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district, police said on Wednesday.

Shankar Prasad (55), the sampark pramukh of RSS Dhanbad, was shot dead on Tuesday night at his native village in Duma under East Tundi police station area, some 180km from capital Ranchi, police said.

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His bullet-ridden body was recovered on Wednesday morning, around 500 metres away from his house near Duma graveyard, said officer in-charge of East Tundi police station Krishna Kumar.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem at Sahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College and Hospital, Dhanbad," he said.

Prasad, who is survived by three sons and two daughters, was East Tundi block horticulture officer, under whom several krishi mitras were working. He was also member of Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra, villagers said.

According to the statement by his family to police, Prasad left home on a motorcycle around 9.30pm on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, his bullet-ridden body was found near the village graveyard, they said.

They added he had a land dispute in the village and an FIR had been lodged in East police station.

RSS zilla sah seva pramukh Rampratap Kumbhkar, a East Tundi resident, demanded immediate arrest of the killers and alleged that Prasad's murder was a conspiracy.

East Tundi block of Dhanbad has been a Maoist-hit region. Prasad, who was a member of the gram raksha dal, was against illegal sand mining in the area.