Patna: As the body of CRPF inspector Pintu Kumar Singh, who was killed in an anti-
terrorist operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara on Friday, was brought to Patna airport
on Sunday, no senior leader from the National Democratic Alliance turned up as they were
occupied with the massive “Sankalp” rally being held in Bihar’s capital, where Prime
Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a rally.
“It’s very unfortunate that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not bother to come to pay his
last respect,” said Sanjay Singh, uncle of the CRPF inspector who was from Dhanchakki
village in Begusarai, 130 km from Patna. District magistrate Kumar Ravi, senior police
officer Garima Mallick, top officers of the Central Reserve Police Force, state Congress
chief Madan Mohan Jha and Lok Janshakti Party parliamentarian Choudhary Mahboob Ali Kaiser
were some of the people who came to the airport.
“I am not here for politics. I came to pay my respect,” said Madan Mohan Jha at Jai
Prakash Narayan Airport in Patna. Kaiser, whose JLP is an ally of the NDA, said the chief
minister should have at least sent a deputy colleague if he was busy with the rally in
Patna. On February 16, Nitish Kumar, his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi and Union Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad had come to the airport to pay their tribute to two CRPF soldiers from
Bihar who were killed in the Pulwama suicide bombing.
On Sunday, several union ministers are in the state capital for the “Sankalp” rally, and
they are likely to visit the airport later to receive PM Modi. Four security personnel,
including an officer, were killed during an anti-terrorist operation in Kupwara on Friday.
CRPF inspector Pintu Singh was taking part in the fierce encounter with terrorists. One of
the terrorists, who was presumed dead, emerged from the rubble of a destroyed house and
started firing, which took the security personnel by surprise.
The “Sankalp” rally is the first political event in a decade where Nitish Kumar will share
a stage with PM Modi. It is also the first joint rally by the NDA in Bihar since November
2005. After the rally, the ruling parties in Bihar are likely to finalise the seats for
the Lok Sabha elections. Although they have decided on a 17:17:6 formula between the three
allies, the allotment of specific seats to parties is yet to be done.
