Ranchi, April 11: Compensation announced by the government for policemen killed might have taken years to reach the bereaved families.

But at Bishrampur (Palamau), the government acted with exemplary swiftness and has paid the compensation within 48 hours of the police firing on Friday.

Finance minister Raghubar Das accused the media of raising irrelevant questions and inciting social tension. The government, he felt, should be applauded for acting fast. But he had no reply to why the government is not as fast in other cases.

This particular instance has generated considerable controversy because the government rushed into announcing the compensation while waiting for its own inquiry report. Also, on the face of it the compensation was paid to people who had broken the law, attacked the police, taken out a procession in defiance of prohibitory orders, broken the police cordon and entered a disputed site.

The government, Das confirmed, had paid Rs 10,000 the day after the firing to the families of the two people who were killed in police firing on Friday and also to the families of 25 others who were injured. The balance, amounting to Rs 4.9 lakh each for the deceased and Rs 40,000 to the injured, was also paid within 24 hours, Das claimed.

The fact that the compensation has been paid to supporters of the BJP has added fuel to the fire, with the Opposition accusing the government of being partial and Congress leader Pradeep Balmuchu demanding a judicial inquiry.

The government, which has not paid compensation to victims of earlier police firing at various places, also appears to have set a precedent and invited a PIL.

CPM state secretary J.S. Majumdar called for a uniform policy for everyone. ?We are not opposed to the government paying compensation to the victims of police firing,? he said, ?but then the law should be the same for everyone. Why is the government shying away from paying compensation to the victims of other cases of police firing??

BJP sources attributed the government?s haste to BJP president Rajnath Singh?s visit to the state and revival of the Hindutva bandwagon.