NIA to probe murder of retired Kanpur school principal

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case to probe the killing of a retired school principal in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur allegedly by ISIS terrorists, according to an official statement issued on Monday.

Ramesh Chandra Shukla, retired principal of Swami Atmaprakash Brahmchari Junior High School, was killed by unidentified persons near village Piwadi in Kanpur on October 24 last year around 12.30 pm, it said.

"The NIA has initiated the process to take over the investigation of the case," the statement read.

Three men allegedly owing allegiance to ISIS and suspected to be involved in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast had shot dead Shukla in cold blood just to test their firing skills, according to NIA officials.

The details of the killing were made known during the interrogation of Mohammed Atif Muzzafar and Danish, who were arrested by the Madhya Pradesh Police soon after the train blast on March 7, the officials said.

Muzzafar and Danish claimed to have told their interrogators that they had practised firing a pistol on the banks of the Ganga in Kanpur.

Thereafter, the duo, along with Saifullah, who was killed in a 12-hour encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police on March 8 at Thakurganj near Lucknow, rode a motorcycle in the lanes of Kanpur to look for a live target. It was there that they spotted 62-year-old Shukla riding a bicycle.

Despite having retired two years ago, Shukla's passion for teaching was alive and he used to take extra classes for students at a school.

Muzaffar and Danish took out their pistols and fired a shot each at the unsuspecting victim, killing him on the spot, the NIA officials said.

The duo had in their statement said they were "happy" the next day reading about the incident in newspapers and complimented each other for "successfully clearing" the practical test, according to NIA officials.

Ten people were injured in a low-intensity IED blast on board the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train near the Jabdi railway station in Shujapur district of Madhya Pradesh on March 7 this year.