Two days before he was hacked to death on the campus of Patna University’s Law College, 22-year-old Harsh Raj had expressed his excitement about voting for the first time from the Vaishali Lok Sabha constituency. Exercising his franchise from his hometown, Majhauli village, Raj was one of the first to queue up outside the polling booth on the morning of May 25, and excitedly showed his inked finger and posed for pictures afterwards.
After coming home from the booth, he had a conversation with his grandfather and mother, telling them about his plan to buy a black SUV. “He is close to both of them. He and I don’t talk much,” said his father, Ajit Kumar, who works at a local daily. Raj had returned to Patna that evening on his beloved black motorbike, saying goodbye before the next day’s exam.
On May 27, the final year undergraduate student appeared for the exam at the Law College campus on Ashok Rajpath Road, about 1.5 km from his own campus, Bihar National College. He is one step closer to completing a three-year Functional English (Honours) course. But when walking back to the motorcycle with a friend, Bhanu Kumar, met a group of seven or eight students, who thrashed with iron rods, hockey sticks and bricks near the auditorium of the College. While his friend fled the scene, several others, including some college employees and other students, allegedly watched the violence, but did not intervene. Finally, Raj faints.
Raj shows his inked finger and voter ID after sporting the franchise for the first time. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
After the gang of attackers fled, some classmates took Raj to Patna Medical College and Hospital, which was about a kilometer away. But the doctors there declared him dead.
“When we came out after the exam, a group of men armed with hockey sticks and rods attacked us. I was also hit with a brick but ran. Harsh also tried to run, but he collided with a tree and fell. At that time, those people, who were masked to hiding his identity, had beaten him to death,” Bhanu recalled.
“If someone had dared to come in and rescue Harsh instead of just watching, my friend would have been alive today,” said another classmate, Nikhil Kumar.
Political ambitions
Raj is popular among university students for his forthcoming and helpful nature. He often circulated flyers containing contact details among students for “any help” they needed, classmates said.
One of the leaflets, seen by the Hindus, featured a picture of him and his friend Saayan Kunal, who happens to be the husband of Shambhavi Choudhary, one of the youngest candidates who contested and won the Lok Sabha election from the reserved Samastipur seat on a Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) ticket. Raj’s Facebook account is flooded with pictures of him campaigning for Ms. Choudhary during the polls on May 13, in the fourth phase of the election.
“Harsh Raj has always stood firm with me as a brother during the election campaign, and even before. The perpetrators should be identified and arrested as soon as possible,” the MP said after the incident.
His father Ashok Choudhary, a Janata Dal (United) Minister in the Bihar Cabinet, also posted a picture of him and Raj on social media, saying they were in touch with authorities over the alleged murder.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Tejashwi Yadav also condemned the incident, and slammed the NDA government in Bihar over the “law and order situation” in the state.
“Our son is pursuing his political ambitions, and wants to participate in the Patna University Students’ Union (PUSU) polls, which will be held in November this year. He then wants to become an MLA and MP,” said Ajit. “But I always tell them not to have any fantasy and focus on their studies,” he said.
Raj’s friends told him The Hindu over the phone that students will be remembered for “unmatched drive for social work”.
“During the pandemic, he went to his village and helped the migrants. He helped in any way he could. He was a gem of a person with high political ambitions,” said Ravi Ranjan.
Other friends added that Raj also ran a social organization, Lok Nayak Yuva Parishad, and the popularity of the outfit made him the envy of other students.
“The perpetrators should not attack him like that. He wasn’t wrong. It was only because of his popularity among the students that he was killed. It is really trivial,” added Ramnik Raj.
Nikhil said Raj’s personality was “infectious”, and added that the onlookers of the crime day were “equally responsible” for the murder.
‘Irrevocable loss’
Raj is the only son. Rosy Kashyap’s sister, a class 10 student in the village, is inconsolable after the death. “He was waiting for his sister to come home. The two are very close. Watching him is sad for him, his emotions are weak,” said his father, his voice heavy with emotion.
After completing his basic education from Lalganj St. Paul in the village, Raj has moved to a rented accommodation in Patna and opened a hostel, RPS Boys Hostel, in the area to earn money on the side. Bimal Mahto, a cook at the hostel, remembers him as a “kind and polite” employer who always paid his salary on time.
“Harsh is not like all other hostel owners. He often knocks on the door to ask if there is a problem, and will try to solve the problem quickly if we tell him something,” said a boarder, Aditya Raj.
Boys hostel run by Raj. | Photo Credit: AMARNATH TEWARY
The future of the hostel now hangs in the balance. “If his family or friends take over, of course I can continue working here. But who knows,” said Mahto.
Arrests so far
The FIR, lodged at the Sultanganj police station, was lodged against an unknown person. So far, the police have arrested three students – Aman Patel alias Aman Kumar from Maner, Chandan Yadav from the university hostel, and Prakrit Anand alias Aarush from Begusarai – while another, Ravish Kumar alias Rahul from Gaya, has surrendered, said Bharat Soni, Patna SP (East), added that they hoped to arrest the other two accused – Mayank from Supaul and Shivam from Madhepura – in the next few days.
“A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was immediately formed to arrest the accused and raids were launched at various locations to nab those involved in the heinous crime. Three or four other students have also been identified,” Soni said.
According to the police, during interrogation, some of the accused said that Raj, along with two or three others, had an altercation with Aman and Ravish in dandiya (dance) night organized at Miller High School ground in Dussehra last year, resulting in two sustained head injuries. Aman and Ravish have gathered some friends and attack Raj to take revenge.
After Raj’s murder, the university ordered the closure of all colleges, and all students had to vacate their dormitories by May 31. The university will now reopen on June 30, after summer vacation ends.
“The entire administration is shocked that a boy has died in the campus. I have requested the police to identify those responsible and take strong action against them,” Vice Chancellor KC Sinha said at the time, adding that all pending exams have been canceled till more news.
Bihar Governor and university Chancellor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar also took notice of the incident, and asked the university authorities to take strong action to ensure that such incidents are not repeated on the campus.
Inheritance inheritance
Several political leaders have graduated from Patna University, including RJD leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad, current Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP national president JP Nadda, and late state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi. But the university, once known as the “Oxford of the East”, began to appear in disrepair, with frequent incidents of hooliganism on campus. Hostels have also become dens for criminals, and often witness police raids.
“Today, most of the meritorious students from Patna migrate to other places to study instead of enrolling in Patna University because of the reduced academic atmosphere,” said former student, Hitendra Anupam, adding that the death of students in the campus means. “The worst possible ebb”.
Meanwhile, Raj’s family is still struggling to cope with their son’s sudden and violent behavior. “We are haunted by his death. He continues to live in our memory every day,” said his father.
