CM orders judicial probe

Two persons including a woman and a 12-year-old girl were killed and 40 injured in mob violence and police firing in Nainan village in Magrahat on Thursday after the villagers clashed with Power department staff who had gone there for checking the incidents of illegal connections.

Although local sources claimed the death toll in the police firing reached three as another villager who sustained several bullet injuries on his body succumbed to his injuries on Saturday,the Superintendent of Police,L N Meena said no other death has been reported yet.

Altaf Ahmed,secretariat member of the APDR,said,“We visited the village today and met the family members of the victims. The villagers showed us the application they had submitted to the state Power department in 2007.” The villagers told APDR team they are yet to get power connections in their houses. They also told the team that they urged the department officials to cut off the electricity line after a month as students were preparing for pre-Board exams but they did not pay heed to it which triggered tension in the area.

According to villagers the police did not use rubber bullets and tear gas before starting indiscriminate firing. No firing announcement was also done on mikes,villagers told the APDR team.

The villagers claimed that within 5-7 minutes of lathi-charge,the police opened fire,added Ahmed.

The APDR team also claimed that they have found bullet marks on the walls of a madrasa where students were peeping through the windows and also on the wall of a primary school located nearby. A team of senior CID officials also visited the spot on Saturday. The investigation in the incident was handed over to the CID on Saturday. Fifteen policemen,including officer-in-charge of Magrahat police station Ashish Das,were removed from duty on Friday.

Meanwhile,a 12-hour Magrahat bandh called by the CPM evoked little response. While majority of the shops and markets remained open,schools and other educational institutions were closed,official sources said.