Bihar: At least two people have died and one person was injured after police allegedly fired on agitating protesters who were protesting against electricity department over irregular power supply in the Katihar district.
A large number of villagers and other representatives were protesting peacefully in Barsoi block office premises on Wednesday regarding irregular power supply in Barsoi subdivision of Katihar district.
As the protest started to escalate, the police resorted to firing in which some protesters were injured.
According to the local administration, two people who were injured in the police firing succumbed to injuries which has now led to some tension in the region.
One of the victims who died on the spot has been indentified as Khurshid Alam while another was a relative of an employee of the electricity department.
During the police firing, one of the victims Sonu Sah had gone to bring back his brother Monu, who was working as a data operator in the electricity department. However, he became the part of the agitating crowd when he was approaching the electricity department and got injured in the police firing.
The bullet hit Sonu's forehead. He was rushed to the Katihar Medical College but succmbed to injuries during the treatment.
Another person who was injured in the police firing has been indentified as Meenhaj who has been taken to Siliguri for treatment.
Speaking in the matter, Barsoi Sub-Divisional Officer Rajeshwari Pandey said that no bullet was fired by the cops. However, Katihar District Magistrate Ravi Prakash reached the spot, interacted with the villagers and assured them of proper investigation.
Meanwhile, Katihar Police Constable Jitendra Kumar told that the firing was done by the police. He said that the officials of the electricity department were taken as hostage by the agitators, therefore, they (police) had to resort to fire.
The police in its defence said that they resorted to firing in self-defence.
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