Patna HC acquits all 26 convicts in Laxmanpur Bathe massacre

Patna: The Patna High Court today acquitted all the 26 men convicted in the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre of 1997 citing lack of evidence and witnesses. A lower court had convicted all these 26 accused and had given 16 of them death sentences and the remaining ten life imprisonment. On the night of December 1, 1997, 58 persons were massacred in cold blood in Laxmanpur Bathe village. Luxmanpur Bathe,125 km from Patna and along the banks of Sone, was targeted because Ranvir Sena members believed the village's Dalits, mostly poor and landless, were sympathizers of Maoists behind the killing of 37 upper caste men in Bara in Gaya district in 1992. 58 Dalits were gunned down including 27 women and 16 children. In the well-planned operation, about 100 Ranbir Sena activists carrying firearms had descended on Lakshmanpur Bathe at around 11 pm. They forced their way into huts by breaking open the doors and fired indiscriminately at people who were asleep. The youngest victim was one-year-old.The Laxmanpur-Bathe case was pending with no witnesses turning up and the police sitting over it. But it was only in December 2008, that charges were framed against 46 Ranvir sena men, 11 years after the massacre. Altogether 91 of 152 witnesses in the case deposed before the court. Sessions Judge Mishra, on conclusion of trial in the case on April 1, had fixed April 7, 2010, as the date for announcing the verdict. Earlier, the case was transferred to Patna from Jehanabad following a Patna High Court order in October, 1999. Terming the court acquittal as “massacre of justice to poorest of the poor”, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the party would move the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court verdict.He said the CPI-ML would also appeal to the apex court to appoint a special investigation team (SIT) on the lines of the one that probed the 2002 Gujarat riots for giving justice to victims of massacre cases in Bihar.”The Supreme Court should take cognizance of the acquittal of the massacre convicts and order an impartial probe under its direct supervision,” he said.Of those acquitted, 16 were sentenced to death and 10 were awarded life imprisonment in 2010 by the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Patna.”A bench of Justice B.N. Sinha of the Patna High Court acquitted them on the basis of lack of evidence against them in the charge sheet filed by police,” Amrendra Kumar, a lawyer, said.Ranvir Sena men had allegedly carried out the massacre Dec 1, 1997. According to police, charges were framed Dec 23, 2008, against 44 men of the Ranvir Sena for killing Dalits, including 27 women and 10 children.Police records showed four Dalit families were completely wiped out in the bloodbath.Laxmanpur-Bathe is situated on the banks of the Sone river in Jehanabad district.The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) government then, led by Rabri Devi, set up the Amir Das Commission to probe the political connections of the Ranvir Sena. But Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wrapped up the commission after coming to power in 2006.Opposition parties, including the RJD and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML), alleged that the Nitish Kumar government was protecting the interests of the Ranvir Sena and suppressing the voice of the poorest of the poor.Last year, Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh was killed at Ara, district headquarters of Bhojpur.