Patna,(BiharTimes): Unconfirmed media reports suggest that Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killing of former Janata Dal MP from Gaya (who later joined LJP), Rajesh Kumar Paswan about a decade back.

As the state Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary, is alleged to be a key suspect in this murder case observers are attaching political meaning to it. The Manjhi government reportedly took this step only a couple of days after the Speaker recognized Nitish Kumar as the ‘leader’ of the Janata Dal (United) Legislature Party.

Rajesh was killed in Gaya district on the eve of the 2005 Assembly election. The JD(U)-BJP combine won that election and Chaudhary was elected as the first Dalit Speaker of Bihar in November 2005.The then JD(U)-BJP government was repeatedly charged with shielding the Speaker when the then Gaya SP Paresh Saxena tried to investigate the matter seriously. He was shifted from his post when he sought permission to quiz Chaudhary.

The police investigation then had ruled out a direct Maoist angle in the case and suggested it was more a “political murder carried out under a conspiracy. Earlier, it was suspected that the Maoists were behind Rajesh’s killing.The police found the alleged complicity of Chaudhary after interrogating the prime accused, Murari Yadav, the then personal assistant to Chaudhary.