A Dalit tola (hamlet) was attacked Wednesday night, and at least 34 houses were set on fire by alleged land mafia at Krishna Nagar village under Mufassil Police station in Bihar’s Nawada district.
Villagers said that the land mafia, who numbered in the dozens, allegedly fired several rounds.
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There is panic among the people living in the village and police are continuously conducting raids to nab the culprits. So far 15 people have been arrested by the police.
On Thursday, the Nawada police issued a press statement saying the homes of 34 families were burnt, 21 completely and 13 partially, by miscreants and there was no report of any casualty.
Till Wednesday night 11 people were arrested, including the main accused Nandu Paswan; by Thursday morning four more people had been arrested.
Explaining the cause of the of the fire, Nawada Superintendent of Police Abhinav Dhiman said, “There was a land dispute going on between two sides. The people who set the house on fire claimed that it was their land on which these people were settled. We have deployed the police force and magistrate and will camp in the village for next three to four days.
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Most of the people living in this village hail from the Manjhi community.
Police have lodged the case on the statement of one villager Vyas Muni and named 28 people in the FIR. Three country-made pistols, three missed-fire round bullets, two empty cartridges, six motorbikes have been recovered as part of the investigation.
A villager Gorelal Ravidas whose house is burnt said, “Earlier also, Nandu Paswan had threatened but last night he came along with his men carrying petrol and guns. First they fired in the air and then burnt the house using petrol. We all have to run away leaving everything inside the house.”
Another affected villager Muneshwari Devi said, “They started abusing us when they came here and shouted that they would throw bombs and better to leave the house. I took my children and went outside to save my life.”
Police on Thursday lodged the FIR and imposed section 191 (2), 191 (3), 190 (1), 352/351 (2) (3), 326 (G), 303 (2), 111 (3), 61 (2) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023. Case has also been registered under Arms Act and several sections of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Reacting to the incident, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav posted a message on social media platform X, blaming the Chief Minister.
“There is Maha Jungleraj and Demon Raj. More than 100 houses of Dalits were set on fire in Nawada. There is fire all over Bihar under the rule of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is least bothered. NDA allies are unaware! They do not care, let the poor burn and die. Atrocities on Dalits will not be tolerated,” Mr. Yadav wrote in the post on Thursday.
Scheduled Caste and Tribe Welfare Department Minister Janak Ram said that the accused will be punished.
“I have got the information about the Nawada incident in which the houses of Scheduled Caste people were set on fire by the goons. This is a sad incident. The government will definitely take strict action against the goons, whoever they are. In this NDA government under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the people of the weaker sections, Dalit and Mahadalit families are safe. The government will not spare anyone,” Mr. Ram said.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also demanded action by writing a post on social media platform X.
“The Bihar Government and the State Police must take immediate and strict action against all the culprits of this shameful crime and provide complete justice to the victim families by rehabilitating them,” Mr. Gandhi wrote in the post.
Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president Mayawati also condemned the incident seeking strict legal action against the culprits and also provided full financial help for the rehabilitation of the victims by posting a message on X.
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manhi made a serious allegation that most of the people arrested are from Yadav caste and supporters of the RJD. Later, the RJD shared the press statement issued by Nawada police on social media platform X having the names of the arrested people in which there was one Yadav surname in the list.
Both Tejashwi Yadav and Lalu Prasad slammed Mr. Manjhi for his statement. Mr. Yadav called him and his son the students of the RSS school.
Published - September 19, 2024 09:17 am IST
