Bihar scribe murder: Main conspirator in police custody for questioning

Patna: Laddan Mian, suspected to be the main conspirator in the killing of journalist Rajdeo Ranjan in Bihar's Siwan district, was taken on a three day police remand on Saturday for interrogation, police officials said. A day after a court in Siwan allowed police to question Laddan, police have taken him on three day remand, said Siwan Superintendent of Police Saurabh Kumar. Laddan, who is also considered close to jailed former Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Mohammad Shahabuddin, on Thursday, surrendered before the chief judicial magistrate in Siwan and was sent to judicial custody. He was lodged in Siwan jail. However, Laddan Mian has denied his involvement in Rajdeo's killing. "I have nothing to do with Rajdeo's killing. I was wrongly framed in the case by police," he told the media before being sent to jail. According to police, Laddan Mian was wanted in the connection with killing of Rajdeo following five shooters arrested by police last month revealed that it was he who had contracted them to kill the journalist. Rajdeo Ranjan, the Siwan bureau chief of Hindi newspaper Hindustan, which is part of HT Media, was shot dead at a busy market near Station Road on May 14. Police in Siwan said that the killing was part of a pre-planned conspiracy. The Bihar government led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the journalist's killing.