Tirhut zone inspector-general of police Gupteshwar Pandey at Bairgania in Sitamarhi on Saturday. Telegraph picture

Three Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans have been arrested in connection with the violence at the Bairgania border outpost in Sitamarhi district on Saturday.

Surat Singh, Navin Kumar and Rajiv Kumar have been suspended and handed over to the district police for allegedly trying to molest two girls, SSB inspector-general (IG) Aditya Mishra said on Sunday.

Mishra added that assistant commandant Rakesh Kumar, who was in charge of the border outpost, and another personnel, Murat Ram, were suspended for dereliction of duty.

Neeraj Paswan, 19, was killed when SSB personnel fired on residents of Nandwara village under Bairgania police station near the Nepal border in Sitamarhi who had accused the jawans of trying to molest two girls at their hamlet.

Thousands of residents had gheraoed the border outpost in protest against the alleged molestation bid and seeking its shifting from Bairgania.

Mishra said the outpost would be shifted after land was allocated to the paramilitary force. On Sunday, senior officials of the SSB, the district administration and the police held a meeting with people’s representatives and the residents to ensure peace prevailed in the area.

Director-general of police (DGP) Abhayanand has asked inspector-general of police (Tirhut zone) Gupteshwar Pandey to camp in Bairgania. The residents alleged that the SSB jawans often passed lewd remarks at girls and women.

Sitamarhi superintendent of police (SP) Vivek Kumar said four FIRs have been lodged.

The first FIR has been lodged by a relative of one of the girls who was allegedly molested by the SSB jawans, while the second FIR deals with the attack by the SSB personnel. The third FIR has been lodged by Neeraj’s kin and the fourth one is related to an attack on the SSB camp by a mob. Sub-divisional police officer Alok Kumar said the situation was becoming normal in the area.

Sources said Abhayanand, who has been asked to investigate the incident, was likely to submit a detailed report to chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday. The DGP had earlier sought a report from the Sitamarhi SP.