Rahul Raj

On October 28, 2008, fate and Mumbai police dealt Patna’s Kundan Singh a cruel blow. That winter night the body of his only son Rahul Raj, killed by the cops in a “fierce encounter” in a bus, was handed over to him.   

The deceased’s mother, Shobha, still sinks into depression every time Rahul’s name is mentioned. Kundan Singh is determined to wrest justice. “My son was innocent. He was a brilliant student who was preparing for his competitive exams. I want to take the case to its logical end,” he says.

Rahul fell victim to the rising tide of the anti-North Indian sentiment whipped up by Raj Thackeray's MNS. Kundan Singh dismisses the Mumbai police claim that Rahul was an antisocial. He has prayed for transfer of the case from Mumbai to Patna and has sought a CBI inquiry into the circumstances of his son’s killing. 

The distraught father has been in constant touch with legal experts, who have advised him not to give up.  In Mumbai, however, the case is a closed chapter. Crime Branch sources told TSI as much. After investigating Javed Ahmad, an officer involved in the encounter, it was inferred that the police action was necessary because Rahul might have killed many innocents. 

Samajwadi Party leader Abu Asim Azmi had said at the time: “The issue is of how  north Indians were provoked  by MNS. This  pushed an innocent youth into taking the law in his hands.” A probe was conducted by ex-state chief secretary Johny Joseph. He tried to record the statement of Manoj Bhagat, a hostage injured in the incident. He was unable to recall anything. It seems selective amnesia is the bane in the Rahul Raj encounter case.