Curfew was clamped and shoot-at-sight orders issued in Ara after mob violence broke out following the killing of Barmeshwar Singh alias Mukhia, ‘chief’ of the banned Ranvir Sena, at Katira under Nawada
police station in Bhojpur district of Bihar this morning. High alert had been sounded in Central Bihar and
elsewhere in the state after criminals shot dead Barmeshwar when he had gone out for a morning walk.
Ranvir Sena is the private army of land owners. The killing led to a spiral of violence in Ara with mobs setting ablaze the Circuit House, block office, education project office, a dairy vehicle, a train engine and five private vehicles. They pelted stones at the Rajdhani Express when it was crossing Ara station and also blocked the Koilwar bridge. Angry crowds ransacked the SC/ST hostel and torched vehicles parked there. The mob was targeting dalit
localities and villages. The authorities first imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC but when that failed to control the situation clamped curfew in the area. In Patna ADG (headquarter) S K Bhardwaj said the
agitating mob was not allowing the police to lift the body of Mukhia.
He said riot control vehicle and rapid action force had been deployed in Ara. The Union Home Ministry took stock of the situation from the state administration and asked them to utilise Central forces as per requirement.
DGP Abhayanand rushed to the spot on the direction of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is in Bhagalpur for his
seva yatra. Mr Kumar appealed to the people to maintain peace and asked them not to disturb harmony at any cost.
According to police, soon after the news of the killing spread agitated people went berserk attacking
administrative offices. Demanding arrival of the chief minister and immediate arrest of the culprits, the mob pressed for personal intervention of the CM. The administration issued shoot-at-sight orders in view
of the protest. Senior administrative and police officers were campingat the spot and the government was keeping an eye on the
situation.
Mr Bhardwaj said the SPs of Jehanabad, Arwal and Buxar had been put on maximum alert. High alert had been sounded
for the district administrations in central Bihar as well as the entire state. He said the CRPF had been deployed in Ara where curfew had been imposed to maintain the situation. He said security personnel from the adjoining districts, including Rohtas, Buxar and Patna, had been rushed to Ara. EDS:Here pick suitably from earlier series.
—UNI
