Patna: Blaming the state government for communal riots at Ajizpur village in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, BJP today demanded a judicial enquiry into the incident and Rs 10 lakh compensation to the families of the victims.
“We demand judicial enquiry into the causes, as well as, police inaction that led to communal riots at Ajizpur. The Bihar government should give Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the family members of the victims,” said senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
“The family members of the youth Bhartendu, whose abduction and murder sparked the riots, are not accepting that he was killed over a love affair. They are claiming jealousy as the motive. We need to get to the root of the incident,” he said.
Demanding arrests of the culprits and strictest of action against them, the senior BJP leader said, “We are getting reports about arrest and harassment of innocent persons by the police in the name of action. People belonging to Sahni and Paswan castes are being targeted and arrested. This should be stopped as it will lead to more acrimony.”
Police have arrested 14 persons and has registered an FIR against 2,000 persons of Ajizpur and adjoining villages for taking part in the violence on Sunday. Altogether, four persons lost their lives in the riot after the body of Bhartendu was discovered buried in an agricultural field.
Also, 37 houses were torched in the incident and several others damaged partially. Bhartendu's family members had accused Sadat and his father Wasi Ahmad in the FIR, which the police lodged after two days of his abduction.
Adding that the communal tension has spread from Muzaffarpur to adjoining district also, Modi, who is the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council said, it was the first time in the history of the state that three persons of the minority community were burnt alive and the government, which claimed to be their protector failed to check it.
“This is the fallout of the fight between senior JD (U) leader and former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. If their fight continues, such incidents will keep happening in the state. Neither Manjhi nor Kumar have paid a visit to Ajizpur till now,” Modi said.
“There is nobody to look after governance and administration in the state due to the fight between Kumar and Manjhi. All efforts are being made to make Manjhi either surrender to Kumar or to force him to resign from the Chief Minister's post,” he added.
The senior BJP leader pointed out that earlier when his party was with JD (U) in the government, incidents of communal tension were directly monitored at the level of Chief Minister and Director General of Police (DGP). This used to check them from snowballing into violent clashes. “But this time it was left to the police station to handle the situation, and the result is in front of everybody,” he said.
The BJP leader also raised questions over the delay of 48 hours by the police in registering the FIR after Bhartendu went missing. He also asked why the two named accused in his disappearance were not arrested and questioned, despite it being a serious issue involving two communities.
The accused were left scot-free for nine days after the FIR. “To top it, the police station is just half-a-km from the village, but the police took four hours to reach the spot. This needs to be investigated,” Modi said.
