A Vishwa Hindu Parishad karyakarta has been shot dead in Ranchi, Jharkhand on December 15. The deceased has been identified as Mukesh Soni. Soni was the Khalari block president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal. The incident happened at around 6.30 pm on Wednesday, while the 38-year-old VHP leader was returning home after shutting his jewellery shop for the day, in Ranchi’s McCluskeyganj town under Khalari police station limits.
राँची के मैक्लुस्कीगंज थाना क्षेत्र में विश्व हिंदू परिषद के खलारी प्रखंड अध्यक्ष मुकेश सोनी की गोली मारकर हत्या,दुकान से घर लौटने के दौरान अपराधियों ने मारी गोली।#Ranchi #Jharkhand pic.twitter.com/tObFhfgDHv
— Sohan singh (@sohansingh05) December 15, 2021
As per a report by Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, the VHP leader was shot twice in his chest by some unidentified assailants, which left him gravely injured. In that injured state, Soni reportedly called up his wife to inform her about the incident. While talking to his wife, Soni fainted on the road. Some locals, who witnessed this, rushed Soni to the Dakra Central Hospital, where the doctors declared him brought dead.
The 38-year-old VHP leader is survived by his wife, a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son.
Khalari DSP Animesh Nathani and SHO Khalari Farid Alam have said that the police have been speaking to the eyewitnesses to get some lead in the case. The DSP added that they are also scanning the CCTV footage of the area where the incident occurred. The police have sent Mukesh Soni’s body for post mortem and assured that the miscreants would be arrested soon.
State govt conspiring to turn Jharkhand into Kerala and West Bengal, BJP leader slams VHP leader’s death
Several members of Hindu outfits like Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal and BJP leaders have expressed their outrage over the incident. Sanjay Seth, a BJP Lok Sabha MP from Ranchi, has chastised the joint Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren for the lawlessness in Jharkhand. The BJP leader claimed that the state’s Congress government has been attempting to turn Jharkhand into Kerala and West Bengal. Sanjay Seth alleged that political murders in Jharkhand are in full swing with BJP and VHP members being openly targeted at the behest of CM Hemant Soren.
विहिप खलारी प्रखंड अध्यक्ष मुकेश सोनी की हत्या राज्य सरकार और प्रशासन की विफलता है। झारखण्ड में भाजपा और संघ विचार परिवार को टारगेट किया जा रहा है। उनकी हत्याएं की जा रही है। झारखंड को केरल और पश्चिम बंगाल बनाने की साजिश हो रही है, जिसे किसी भी कीमत पर सफल नहीं होने दिया जाएगा। pic.twitter.com/OQkctExncj
— Sanjay Seth (@SethSanjayMP) December 15, 2021
Raghubar Das, the former CM of Jharkhand has also dubbed Mukesh Soni’s murder as a political conspiracy and said that the BJP leader would launch a statewide protest if the perpetrators are not arrested soon. “Law and order have collapsed in Jharkhand. The murder of VHP Khalari Block President Mukesh Soni is a failure of Hemant Soren Govt. Political killings have begun in Jarkhand too. But, BJP members have never been scared of political attacks. Neither in West Bengal nor in Kerala,” Tweeted Das, adding that if the culprits are not arrested soon, BJP will agitate.
झारखंड में कानून व्यवस्था ध्वस्त हो चुकी है।
— Raghubar Das (@dasraghubar) December 15, 2021
विहिप खलारी प्रखंड अध्यक्ष मुकेश सोनी की हत्या हेमंत सरकार की विफलता है।
झारखंड में राजनीतिक हत्याओं के दौर चल पड़ा है। भाजपा कार्यकर्ता न तो बंगाल में डरा है न केरल में। अपराधियों की शीघ्र गिरफ्तारी नहीं हुई तो भाजपा आंदोलन करेगी। pic.twitter.com/w0e2TRSw2i
Condemning the incident, Babulal Marandi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly and a former Chief Minister, termed the incident a “serious matter”. He described the incident as an example of unfettered crime in the Congress-ruled state. It depicts the administrative ineptitude of the Hemant Soren government, said Marandi.
झारखंड में बेलगाम अपराधी और प्रशासनिक विफलता की एक और तस्वीर ।
— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) December 15, 2021
खलारी में विश्व हिंदू परिषद के प्रखंड अध्यक्ष मुकेश सोनी की अपराधियों के द्वारा गोली मार कर हत्या किए जाने की खबर सामने आ रही है।
यह मामला अत्यंत गंभीर है, अपराधियों की जल्द से जल्द गिरफ्तारी सुनिश्चित हो। pic.twitter.com/H3ZsZYAnxQ
Describing the incident as unfortunate, Jharkhand BJP state president Deepak Prakash said that the Hemant Soren Govt has been in deep slumber like Kumbhakarna, the epic character from Ramayana.
विश्व हिन्दू परिषद के युवा प्रखंड अध्यक्ष मुकेश सोनी की रांची में गोली मार कर हत्या हो जाने की सूचना अत्यंत दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है.
— Deepak Prakash (@dprakashbjp) December 15, 2021
राज्य सरकार कुम्भकर्णी नींद में सोइ हुई है और प्रदेश में कानून व्यवस्था ध्वस्त है.
सरकार अपराधियों पर नकेल कसे और हत्यारों की अविलंब गिरफ्तारी हो.
The incident is a grim reminder of Hemant Soren’s ‘jungle raj’
“The cycle of political killings continues unabated at the behest of Hemant Soren”, Kishun Kumar Das, a BJP MLA from Simaria Assembly, also chastised the JMM-Congress government for ruining the law and order in Jharkhand.
कानून व्यवस्था नष्ट हो चुकी हेमंत सरकार के राज में हत्याओं का दौर बदस्तूर जारी है.
— Kishun kumar Das (@kishundasbjp) December 15, 2021
दुकान से घर लौटने के क्रम में अपराधियों ने विश्व हिंदू परिषद के खलारी प्रखंड अध्यक्ष मुकेश सोनी जी की गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी,अत्यंत दुःखद खबर!
अपराधियों की जल्द धरपकड़ कर कठोरतम कार्रवाई करे सरकार pic.twitter.com/c4kMoB1rTS
Mayor of Ranchi and National Secretary of BJP, Dr Asha Lakra blasted the state administration for systematically targeting BJP and Sangh members in the state. She said that the murder of the VHP leader was nothing but a grim reminder of Hemant Soren’s ‘jungle raj’ in Jharkhand.
रांची के खलारी प्रखंड के विश्व हिन्दू परिषद् के कार्यकर्ता श्री मुकेश सोनी की अपराधियों ने गोली मारकर हत्या कर दी। राज्य में लगातार संघ-संगठन और भाजपा कार्यकर्ताओं को टारगेट कर उनकी सुनियोजित हत्या की जा रही है।राज्य में हेमंत राज में जगंल राज्य कायम।@BJP4India@BJP4Jharkhand
— Dr. Asha Lakra (@AshaLakra79) December 16, 2021
According to reports, as soon the information about the cold-blooded murder of the VHP leader spread, locals started gathering outside the Dakra Central Hospital, demanding justice from the JMM-Congress government in Jharkhand.
OpIndia attempted to contact the local SHO for more information regarding the incident but was unable to do so. The phone was likewise unanswered at the SP Dehat Office.
On scanning Mukesh Soni’s Facebook profile, we came across his post where he had chastised people of a particular community for mocking CDS General Rawat’s death. ‘A Pakistan dwells in India,’ he had posted on December 8th.
