India, June 28 -- Judicial probe into activist's death tests Bihar's commitment to police accountability.

Less than three months into office, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary is facing one of the biggest political and administrative tests of his tenure after a police encounter in Bhojpur spiralled into allegations of a fake killing, the registration of a murder case against serving police officers and the appointment of a judicial commission to investigate the incident. The controversy centres around the death of 28-year-old social activist Bharat Bhushan Tiwari, who was shot by police on 17 June at Belauthi village under Shahpur police station in Bhojpur district. While the police initially maintained that Tiwari was killed during ...