Vaishali bandh over pramukh’s murder

Patna: Supporters of Jan Adhikar Party (Democratic) on Thursday observed a Vaishali bandh to protest the killing of Jandaha block pramukh Manish Kumar Sahni in the block premises in Vaishali district, around 50km north of Patna, on Monday.

The activists forced shopkeepers and other businessmen at the block headquarters to shut their business establishments. Incidents of minor scuffle between bandh enforcers and businessmen were reported during the dawn-to-dusk bandh. Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan, A.K.A. Pappu Yadav later visited Jandaha and addressed a meeting of the party workers.

Vaishali superintendent of police (SP) Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said on Thursday that the bandh passed off peacefully and no major incident of violence was reported from any part of the district. Adequate security arrangements were made to deal with the situation, he said.

Dhillon, who reviewed the situation at Jandaha in the wake of Manish’s killing, told The Telegraph over phone on Thursday that a special investigation team headed by Mahua sub-divisional police officer Malti Arya has been set up to solve the case at the earliest.

Malti and members of the team carried out raids at different hideouts of the accused but nobody could be arrested. Altogether 11 persons, including JDU MLA Umesh Kushwaha, former block pramukh Jai Shankar Singh and former mukhiya Rambabu Singh, have been named as accused in the FIR.

The FIR was lodged with the Jandaha police station on the basis of a statement by Om Prakash Sahni, elder brother of the dead. An investigating officer said, prima facie, the incident seems to be fallout of political rivalry.

Former block pramukh Jai Shankar was removed from his post after he lost the vote of confidence on August 2. Om Prakash alleged that his brother was threatened with dire consequences soon after he defeated Jai Shankar in the vote of confidence and was elected as block pramukh. Manish was attacked when he was coming out of his office in the block premises, around 30km east of Hajipur, the district headquarters of Vaishali.

SP Dhillon claimed the culprits would be brought to book soon. “The police have got certain leads in the case. Raids are underway to arrest them,” he said.

Residents said that a large number of people belonging to the fishermen’s community gathered at Jandaha and torched several vehicles. The unruly mob also attacked the police station, which forced the police to open fire in which one person was killed and five others received severe injuries.

Courtesy: The Telegraph