Five days after the murder of Kumar Gaurav, the Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Coal Dispatch Department at NTPC's Keredari project, police are yet to make any arrests in the case. “We are currently investigating the case. No arrests have been made yet. We are trying to identify the suspects,” Superintendent of Police Arvind Singh said Wednesday. According to police, Gaurav was on his way to his office from his residence in Hazaribagh Saturday morning in a company vehicle, when two assailants on a motorcycle overtook his vehicle near Fatha Chowk in the Katkamdag police station area, and fired three shots. An acquaintance of Gaurav who requested anonymity said one of the three bullets had hit him. After the incident, the victim was rushed to Arogya Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Kumar Gaurav, 42, a native of Bihar is survived by a wife and a 11-year-old daughter. “He was very soft-spoken and kind person… He talked with everyone with respect… Even a day before the incident, we met, but he never mentioned anything about any threat call or any altercation with anyone… Even we can’t understand why would anyone would kill such a humble person,” said his colleague. A native of Nalanda in Bihar, the 42-year-old was a BSc engineering graduate from Vinoba Bhave University in Hazaribagh. Hours after the shooting, Jharkhand’s Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi condemned the attack, calling, accusing the state’s Hemant Soren government of “starting a bloody conflict in the coal business”. “After the Chief Minister made provocative statements and threatened to affect the coal business, the morale of the criminals has increased further. Even after a murderous attack on a coal trader in Ranchi yesterday, the police did not become alert. Ultimately, the criminals took the life of a young promising officer…. Who knows how many innocent people this government will kill in the black coal business,” he wrote.
