A policeman on alert during the anti-encroachment drive at Kusunda in Dhanbad on Wednesday. Picture by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, April 27: Security forces escorting district administration officials on an anti-encroachment drive were confronted with an angry mob at a BCCL residential colony today, forcing police to open fire leading to the death of three protesters.

The violence erupted at the Kusunda colony, around 3km from Dhanbad, around 10am and soon spread to neighbouring areas of Kustore, Bastacola, Lodna, Boragarh and Baghmara. By then, the protesters had set fire to a riot control vehicle, a dumper and two motorcycles.

The district administration was quick to react and imposed curfew in the evening after having imposed Section 144 throughout Dhanbad municipal limits earlier in the day to prevent the protesters from fanning out and attacking BCCL staff quarters.

Intermediate examinations of Jharkhand Academic Council, scheduled to begin in Dhanbad from tomorrow, have been cancelled.

Later in the evening, chief minister Arjun Munda announced an inquiry by North Chhotanagpur divisional commissioner.

According to Dhanbad DSP (law and order) Sanjay Ranjan Singh, the violence was controlled after three hours. More than 35 people were injured.

As many as 24 people were detained. Among them were deputy mayor Niraj Singh, Dhanbad MLA and trade union leaders Mannan Mallick and Sanjeev Singh, who were all taken to Bank More police station. Later, Sanjeev Singh was shifted to a nursing home in Dhansar as he was injured.

According to eyewitnesses, more than 500 policemen, led by Sanjay Singh, SDO George Kumar and Dhanbad circle officer Dinesh Surin, arrived at the Kusunda coal board colony under Jogta police station around 8.30am and began evicting residents who had been served notices.

Around 9.30am, the deputy mayor and Dhanbad MLA also arrived at the spot. While they were going towards the officials to hold talks, the protesters started pelting stones at the police and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel.

The police began firing teargas shells, which seemed to infuriate the mob further. The protesters then started attacking policemen with bamboo sticks. To prevent the situation from spiralling out of control, the police opened fire.

Three persons were killed and two others sustained bullet wounds. Among those injured in stone pelting, at least 12 were policemen.

The dead have been identified as Dinesh Handi of Bright Kusunda area, Vikash Kumar Singh of New Delhi colony of Dhansar and Sanjay Rawani, also of Dhansar.

BCCL GM (administration) S.K. Chattopadhyay said that at least 15 of the 50 illegal occupants were evicted before violence broke out. “Now, we don’t know if the anti-encroachment drive will continue,” he said.

Among the injured policemen were officer in charge of Jogta police station S.S. Kujur, assistant sub-inspector Bhagwan Purti and constables Gajendra Paswan, Mankus Jha and Prashant Kumar. Most were admitted to Patliputra Medical College and Hospital.

Dhanbad deputy commissioner Sunil Kumar Burnwal admitted an inquiry had been ordered. “Police are closely monitoring the situation,” he said.

Both the deputy mayor and the Dhanbad MLA blamed the district administration for the violence. “We were going to court arrest before the police but they resorted to force which led to escalation of violence. The police are responsible,” said Niraj Singh.

MLA Mallik blamed the “immaturity” of the district administration. “The administration took the unilateral decision of forceful eviction without taking us into confidence. This led to the situation snowballing into a messy affair,” he said.

But colony residents blamed the trade union leaders. Ramu Singh of Bright Kusunda said, “The leaders asked us to launch a fight but backtracked. They are enjoying police security and are solely responsible for today’s crisis,” alleged the neighbour of Dinesh Hadi, among the three who died today.