Many leaders were killed in the history of the country, but when Lalit Babu of Mithilanchal of Bihar was murdered, everyone was stunned. He was just getting off the stage giving a speech in a program that a bomb blast destroyed everything. Lalit Babu used to be the Railway Minister in the Indira Gandhi government at that time. When he died, the politics of Bihar changed suddenly, but his departure from the world was also a mystery.
In the Indira Gandhi government, Railway Minister Lalit Narayan Mishra was affectionately called Lalit Babu by the people. On 2 January 1975, he had reached Samastipur railway station to inaugurate a railway line between Samastipur to Muzaffar Nagar. Here he was also to address after the inauguration. Lalit Babu was accompanied by his younger brother Jagannath Mishra and many other Congress leaders.
Lalit Babu finished his speech and started walking down the stage. Then a bomb was thrown towards him from the side of the crowd. There was a loud bang and a cloud of dust spread all around. After a while the smoke dissipated and many leaders including Lalit Babu, Jagannath Mishra were seriously injured. In a hurry, he was brought from Samastipur to the hospital in Danapur by train.
Lalit Babu, who was badly injured in this blast, breathed his last on 3 January. This massacre created a sensation in the whole country because it was the murder of the Railway Minister of the country. The investigation of this case first went to the CID and then the matter was handed over to the CBI. In its charge sheet, the CBI named Vishweshwaranand, Vinayananand and Vinayanand as accused. But the family did not believe in this whole issue for years.
The CBI had requested the Supreme Court to send this case out of Bihar. In 1979, the court sent the case out of Bihar. Then in 1980 the trial of this case started in Delhi. After years of hearing and investigation, in 2014, the sessions court sentenced Ranjan Dwivedi, Santoshanand, Sudevanand and Gopal ji to life imprisonment.
In this murder, the CBI told the hand of Anandmargis, but at that time the wife of Lalit Babu had refused to accept it. An appeal was made against this decision in the Supreme Court and Lalit Babu’s family members wrote letters to many leaders. Lalit Babu’s wife also wrote letters to the Prime Minister of the country and the Chief Minister of Bihar. Lalit Babu’s family members kept saying every time that the one who got the punishment is not the real murderer.
This murder case was discussed many times and there was a demand for re-investigation in the case. But in the verdict that came after 40 years, the accused were punished. Indira Gandhi had also called this murder a foreign conspiracy at that time and even today this death has remained a mystery. At one time it was also said that Lalit Babu’s popularity was the reason for his death.