M A I N   N E W S

700 school kids seek safe future,
march to Bihar Raj Bhavan

Patna, January 28
Braving the early morning showers, hundreds of schoolchildren today demonstrated in front of Raj Bhavan here seeking Governor Buta Singh’s intervention for the safe release of three fellow pupils kidnapped from different parts of Bihar.

Shouting slogans like “We want Kislay” and “Give us a safe future”, nearly 700 totally drenched students assembled in front of the Raj Bhavan to press for their demand and to mount pressure on the state government.

Later, a delegation of 10 students and five office-bearers of different children welfare organisations, including Bihar Public School Students Welfare Association chief B K Singh, were allowed to meet the Governor.

Speaking to reporters, Mr BK Singh said they handed over to the Governor a petition seeking his intervention for the safe release of kidnapped students otherwise they would be compelled to request the parents and guardians of students across the city to not to exercise their franchise in the coming Assembly elections.

Mr BK Singh said they also expressed concern over the “insensitive” approach of the state government towards securing the release of the abducted school children.

“It is a matter of serious concern that the state police still do not have any clue about the whereabouts of Kislay and other students,” he said.

Ravikant, a student of the DAV Public School, was kidnapped from Biharsharif town in Nalanda district on Monday, barely six days after the abduction of Kislay, a student of Delhi Public School in Patna. Meanwhile, yet another student of the DAV Public School (Bhagalpur), Dipa Kumar, went missing on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, terming the crime against children as “a crime against the nation”, Bihar Governor Buta Singh today told the delegation of students that he had directed the state authorities to take effective steps for safe release of the kidnapped children.

“Children are the future of the nation and the perpetrators of crime against children are committing a crime against the nation,” the Governor told the delegation, according to a Raj Bhavan press release.

He said the kidnapping of students was “a heinous crime” and the perpetrators of such crime should be sternly dealt with.

The Governor informed the delegation of students and office-bearers of different children welfare associations that he had already directed the authorities to take all-possible steps to get the students freed from the clutches of kidnappers.

Gangster’s wife held

A police team from Patna raided the house of Kiran Thakur, wife of gangster Chunnu Thakur, in Muzaffarpur and arrested her in the Kislay kidnap case. Chunnau Thakur is lodged in Hajipur jail.

Meanwhile, normal life was affected in Bhagalpur town today due to a bandh called in protest against the kidnapping of Dipak Kumar, a student of DAV public school here, who remained traceless for the fourth day today. The call for the shut-down was given by Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM). Most shops and other business establishments downed their shutters and vehicular traffic was thin.

Banks, offices of central and state governments were open and attendance was normal, official sources said. Activists of the ABVP and SJM stopped Bhagalpur-Patna-New Delhi Vikramshila express for some time by staging dharna on the tracks at Bhagalpur railway station. — PTI

BJP blames Laloo

New Delhi, January 28
The BJP today charged RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav with giving protection to criminals involved in the recent kidnappings in the state in order to justify his allegation of conspiracy against the Opposition.

“Abductions, goondaism and other crimes are not new to Bihar but Laloo and his government are providing protection to those behind the recent spurt in such incidents to justify his shameless allegation against the Opposition”, party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told newspersons here.

When the kidnapping of a DPS schoolboy in Patna on January 19 mounted pressure on the police and administration ahead of elections, the ruling RJD “stage-managed” subsequent abductions to bring the Opposition “under a cloud of suspicion,” Mr Naqvi alleged. — TNS