Patna: Eleven policemen were on Sunday suspended for dereliction of duty after a man threw a black muffler at Nitish Kumar during the chief minister's visit to Begusarai on Saturday.

Begusarai superintendent of police (SP) Aditya Kumar ordered the suspension of 11 police personnel, including Nayagaon police station house officer Ranjan Kumar, on the charge of negligence of duty during Nitish's visit to the Balia block headquarters in Begusarai, around 130km east of Patna, to take stock of development works in the district.

Aditya said show-cause notices have been served on five other officials, including the sub-divisional officers of Bakhri and Balia, Sonu Kumar and Ranjan Kumar respectively.

The SP has also sought explanations from sub-divisional officer Braj Kishore Choudhary and two engineers, Ashok Kumar and Sitaram, who were deputed as magistrates, he added.

Police said a man entered the D-area (prohibited area) and threw a black muffler towards Nitish to draw his attention. The man also tried to reach close to the chief minister, who was sitting after finishing his speech, to apprise Nitish of his grievances. Security personnel took the man into custody and handed him over to the local police for interrogation.

The man, identified as Ajit Sharma, a resident of Sahebpur Kamal in Begusarai, wanted to meet Nitish to complain about the problem in disbursement of loan from a bank. The police lodged a case against 22-year-old Ajit and sent him to jail.

"As it was a breach of security, cops on duty have been put under suspension with immediate effect," SP Kumar told The Telegraph over the phone on Sunday.

Nitish visited Balia as part of his ongoing Vikas Karyon Ki Samiksha Yatra.

Earlier, the police had baton-charged a mob in Begusarai that was trying to put up a road blockade.