A man attacks a commuter at Jagdeo Path in Patna as police watch helplessly. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, April 5: The Jagdeo Path area turned into a virtual war zone this morning after henchmen of a construction company opened fire in the presence of police to disperse Musahar community members protesting against the construction on a piece of land they had been using for burial for the past 50 years. Three persons, including two women and a minor, sustained bullet injuries. One of the injured women succumbed to injuries in the evening.

Agitated over the blatant firing in the presence of the cops, the Musahar community members squatted on Bailey Road in Jagedo Path area under the jurisdiction of Airport police station, set tyres ablaze and torched vehicles in the morning. The road blockade continued till 2pm.

After a brief break, the Musahar community members under the Maha Dalit bracket resumed the road blockade around 5.30pm as one of the injured women, Butti Devi, succumbed to injuries at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The efforts of the police to pacify them proved futile till the filing of this report.

Director-general of police Neel Mani said the construction company owner, Satish Kumar Singh, and three of his associates, including Pramod Singh, Kumar Gaurav and Rajesh Kumar, had been arrested. Five policemen, including the station house officer of Airport police station, M.K. Jaiswal, sub-inspector R.P. Thakur and three home guards had been suspended, Mani said.

Patna City superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande said: “The policemen were there with the construction company associates and the henchmen without giving any information to the senior officers. Also, they were at the spot without any executive magistrate.”

A girl walks to her destination after vehicular movement was stalled by the mob and (above) protesters smash the windscreen and windows of a car at Jagdeo Path in Patna on Tuesday. Pictures by Jai Prakash

Sources said the associates of the company started erecting a boundary wall around the 10,000sqft land around 9.30am in the presence of some armed men and the police.

“The construction on the plot began three days ago in the presence of the police. When a group of people belonging to the Musahar community came yesterday and asked the builder to stop the construction work, they were chased away by the armed men and the police. Today, they came prepared for a fight. A large number of women and children came to the spot to stop the construction,” a resident of the area told The Telegraph.

As the Musahar community resisted the construction work, the henchmen of the builder opened fire without any warning. The men in uniform allegedly remained mute spectators.

“It is strange that the police did not react. The henchmen of the construction company fired in the presence of the police. We could hear many gunshots and chose to stay indoors,” the resident added.

Besides Butti, Malia Devi and 14-year-old Ramji Manjhi sustained bullet injuries.

Infuriated over the unprovoked firing, the Musahar community members indulged in violence. At least three vehicles of the construction company were torched. They smashed windowpanes and headlights of two other vehicles.

With the situation spiralling out of control, the men in uniform tried desperately to take the associates of the construction company to safety. The mob intercepted Rajesh, one of the men of the builder, and thrashed him. They also pelted stones at him. When the police managed to rescue him from the clutches of the agitators, he was bleeding. The cops left with him in a jeep.

Soon after, the Musahar community members blocked the stretch of the Bailey Road. They stoned any vehicle passing by.

The mob lifted the blockade after the police assured them of no construction on the land and told them that three persons involved in the firing incident had been arrested.

Sources said the piece of land belonged to a farmer based in Khajpura area. He gave it to the Musahar community voluntarily.