Bond Kalan (Bhiwani), Nov 15
An irate mob torched a police station in Bond Kalan village of Bhiwani district today, burnt vehicles and blocked the highway after the police allegedly failed to take quick action against a criminal who killed two brothers in the village.

Three jeeps and over a dozen motorcycles parked inside the police station were burnt and some villagers and policemen were reportedly injured in the clash. After the incident, hundreds of villagers converged on the highway connecting Rohtak with Narnaul and Dadri and blocked it.

As per details, Kulbir Singh, a wanted criminal, shot at brothers Rajender (50) and Kuldeep (45) around 9.15 pm on Wednesday night when they were irrigating their fields and fled from the spot.

Minutes earlier, Kulbir had assaulted a villager, Jai Prakash, and the duo had questioned his role in the incident. The police complaint said the victims had no enmity with Kulbir, a proclaimed offender who had jumped parole since 2005.

The victims succumbed to their injuries soon after the police reportedly reached the scene of crime today morning. Villagers said the police were informed of the incident last night itself.

The protesters’ have given the police 48 hours to either arrest the accused or face an agitation. Police personnel have been deployed in the village in large numbers. “The accused is a hardened criminal and has been a proclaimed offender for over five years,” said village sarpanch Vinod. “The police failed to arrest Kulbir, though they were informed of his presence in the village several times,” said a local resident.

He said the accused, who hailed from this village, had become a nuisance for the villagers since he jumped parole in 2007, but due to hobnobbing with the police, he used to roam around scot-free.

Hisar range IG AS Chawla said the situation was under control. He said officials had persuaded the villagers to lift the blockade and to cremate the bodies of the victims. He admitted that the accused had a criminal background and the police could not arrest him since he was declared a proclaimed offender.

Bhiwani SP Simarjeet Singh said the protesters had lifted the blockade on the condition that the accused would be arrested within 48 hours. The deceased were expected to be cremated late today evening after a postmortem, he said.