Jamshedpur, March 27: The presence of police and para military forces at all the sensitive areas in the city could not prevent over 100 road mishaps due to drunken driving, fire accidents, clashes and incidents of teasing on Holi.

The district administration?s efforts to clamp down on the sale of alcohol by declaring Saturday a dry day seemed to have had little impact. Revellers could be seen lying on roadsides and even drains in inebriated state. Police arrested Bappi Jana, Vijay Tiwari and Lakhi Gaour from two separate places on charges of selling liquor yesterday. The police recovered 250 liquor bottles from their possession. The district police also arrested 30 criminals as a preventive measure on the eve of Holi. Ten companies of police, special task force and central paramilitary force jawans were deployed to make the festival of colours peaceful.The police detained a number of people for creating trouble at several places, including Sonari, Kadma, Sitaramdera, Gamharia and Adityapur.

Three persons, including Bablu Das, Rajesh Kumar and Shyam Nandan, were arrested after they fired at one R.P. Yadav of Dev Nagar under Sitaramdera police station yesterday afternoon. Deputy superintendent of police Sangeet Kumari said the trio, who were drunk, went to Yadav?s house and demanded money. ?When Yadav refused, they fired at him and fled with Rs 1,500,? she said.

The deputy superintendent of police added that Yadav was admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital. His condition was stated to be stable.

However, constant patrolling by the police and para military forces prevented many group clashes from turning ugly. ?The policemen were extremely alert. The son of a policeman was arrested from a hotel in Bistupur when he tried to create problems for other customers,? the deputy superintendent of police added.

In another incident at Gamharia, the police, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MP Sunil Mahto and MLA Champai Soren averted a major clash between two rival groups. Subdivisional police officer of Seraikela Subodh Prasad said the clash stemmed from an incident of eve-teasing. ?The police have arrested about 15 people under various sections for breaking law and order in Gamharia area after consuming alcohol on the day of Holi,? he added.

The spirit of the festival was also marred by over 100 road accidents. ?This is a record figure. Such a huge number of accidents has never been reported on a Holi day,? said a police officers. Tata Main Hospital and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College received 75 cases of minor and major road accidents. ?Despite the deployment of police at every important place in the city, this year we received more cases compared to previous years,? said a senior doctor at Tata Main Hospital.

An equal number of people were admitted to different hospitals and private clinics across the city with allergies, eye infections and breathing problems. President of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dr Arun Kumar, said in his career spanning over a decade he has never seen so many people being admitted to different hospitals on Holi. ?During Holi, people usually drink bhang to celebrate. But this year, the festivities seem to have crossed all limits,? he added.