M A I N   N E W S

12 massacred in Bihar

NAWADA (Bihar), June 12 (PTI) — Eleven (12, according to UNI) upper-caste persons, including eight members of a family related to an Independent MLA, were gunned down and four others were seriously injured by unidentified assailants in Bihar’s Nawada district last night, the police said today.

State Director-General of Police K.A. Jacob said over a hundred assailants, armed with automatic weapons, swooped on Apsad village and killed 11 persons on the spot while they were sleeping on the roof of a two-storeyed building owned by relatives of an Independent MLA, Ms Aruna Devi. The dead included a five-year-old girl. One of the injured later died in hospital, UNI quoted Mr Jacob as saying

The police said the attackers also slit the throats of the victims and pierced their abdomens with sharp-edged weapons.

Four others who suffered injuries in the attack were sent to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) where their condition was stated to be critical.

The victims belonged to the upper-caste Bhumihar community the sources said, adding that the killings could be the fallout of the gangwar between the Ashok Mahato and Akhilesh Singh groups in Central Bihar. 

Angry villagers prevented the authorities from removing the bodies for cremation demanding immediate suspension of Deputy Superintendent of Police, Warsaliganj, P.K. Mandal, Officer-in-charge, and in charge of the Chakway police station.

According to official sources, angry villagers set on fire three coaches of the 591 up Jhajha-Gaya DMU train at Gauspur station in protest against the incident. They also uprooted fish plates to block the movement of trains.

Raids were being conducted at various places in Nawada to arrest the killers. Additional companies of paramilitary forces were being rushed to Nawada keeping in view the mounting tension after the incident.

Senior officials, including Director-General of Police Jacob, state Home Secretary U.N. Panjiar and Inspector-General of Police (Patna range), Neelmani, were camping on the spot to oversee the combing operation.

The killings came barely a week after the massacre of six persons belonging to the Yadav community in Nawada. Chief Minister Rabri Devi condemned the killings and asked the district administration to arrest the killers.

NDA leader P.K. Sinha demanded immediate dismissal of the Rabri Devi ministry following recurrences of carnages ever since it took office again on March 11.

Meanwhile, an Eastern Railway press note in Calcutta said a mob set afire the engine and four coaches of the Kiul-Gaya passenger train this morning at Gazpur Halt station in protest against the massacre in Nawada. The mob also damaged the track, the release said.