Amir Subhani (centre) in Araria on Saturday. Picture by Mohan Mahato

Araria/Patna, June 4: The Bihar government has initiated a probe into the killing of four persons, including a woman and a minor boy, in yesterday’s police firing at Bhajanpura village under Forbesganj sub-division in Araria district, about 300km northeast of Patna.

State home secretary Amir Subhani and additional director-general of police (headquarters) Rajvardhan Sharma visited Araria today to conduct an investigation into the circumstances leading to the police firing, which left four persons dead and about a dozen others injured.

According to a district administration official, hundreds of people blocked a road, protesting against the construction of a starch factory near their village on Friday afternoon. The demonstration led to the police firing.

A footage of purported police brutality added to the tension. The footage, beamed on some regional TV channels, showed a youth being beaten up by a policeman when he was lying in an unconscious state in a field in the Forbesganj Industrial Area. The policeman was shown kicking him hard with boots and even jumping on his hands.

The Opposition, which had been lying low since the poll debacle, has lashed out at the government. “It reflects the goondaism on part of the men in uniform. Jungle raj prevails in Bihar under the leadership of Nitish Kumar,” RJD secretary-general Ramkripal Yadav said, borrowing a phrase used by the JD(U) to describe the Lalu Prasad-Rabri Devi regime. LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan demanded Nitish’s resignation on moral grounds.

Araria superintendent of police Garima Malick said she was busy with the firing case and had not watched the footage.

The home secretary and the ADG (headquarters), accompanied by Purnea divisional commissioner Brajesh Mehrotra, inspector-general (IG) of Darbhanga zone R.K. Mishra and acting deputy inspector-general of Purnea Sudhanshu Kumar visited the site of occurrence and talked to the residents. They also held a meeting with the local police and administrative officials.

Subhani told reporters in Araria that four persons were killed and four others were injured in the firing. The police fired 10 rounds to disperse the rioting mob. Shots were also fired by the protestors, he added.

Subhani, however, refused to give details of their findings on the incident, saying he would have to submit the report to the chief minister, who assigned him and the ADG (headquarters) to conduct a joint probe into the matter. “It will be too early to make any comment on the incident. The investigation is still on and the findings of the investigation will be submitted to the chief minister as early as possible,” he said.

The officials, however, were not in a position to declare any relief to the victims despite repeated demands by the Opposition leaders. “Action will be taken on the basis of the report submitted to the government,” home secretary Subhani clarified.

The officials have been asked to submit their report within two days. The district magistrate was on leave when the incident happened, sources said.

A host of leaders, including Zakir Anwar — the general secretary of LJP and Araria MLA — who was leading a team comprising RJD leader Anil Yadav, former Araria MP Sukhdev Paswan, former MLA Jayprakash Aggrawal and former minister Vijay Mandal, have demanded ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh to those injured in the police firing.

They also demanded a judicial probe into the incident and a government job to one member of each of the deceased families in accordance with their qualification. Raj Kumar Aggrawal, vice-chairman of Nagar Parishad, Forbesganj, however, blamed the district officials for the incident.

He alleged that the land of the farmers was taken for industrial development and road construction by the land acquisition department. The farmers, however, are to receive the compensation, he added.

During the construction of the factory, even the road used by the villagers, was deliberately taken by the officials concerned, Aggrawal alleged.