As Yadav gang guns down Muslims, Laloo tries to snap out of his worst nightmare

For the sake of their security ever since the 1989 Bhagalpur riots, Muslims have voted for Laloo. A Yadav gang mowing down Muslims is Laloo’s worst nightmare as he pitches for a fourth consecutive Assembly win in 2005.

Leading his army of officials and followers — they came in 50 vehicles — Laloo landed in Jagdishpur a day after the massacre. He promptly announced a series of compensatory measures for the kin of the dead: Rs one lakh from the RJD, Rs one lakh from the state government, jobs for dependents, and homes under the Indira Awas Yojana.

‘‘There will be a police picket in the village until the time you want it,’’ Laloo told a huge crowd. Several ministers and the entire bureaucracy of the Saran Commissionerate were present. His very visit betrayed his fears about the longevity of the MY social combination — he had not visited the site of the recent massacre of nine in Nalanda and five in Gopalganj in January.

In Gopalganj’s Khoerigaon, five Yadavs were killed by a Muslim gang. ‘‘The massacre in Jagdishpur and Gopalganj are related. Some relatives of the dead people in Gopalganj are the suspects in this case and we have identified six people,’’ said IG police C R Jayant.

Siwan DM Brajesh Mehrotra said: ‘‘The victims had no land and no other reasons to have enemies. It is merely to terrorise people.’’ The war of supremacy between the Muslim and Yadav gangs usually spills over to the innocent people belonging to both communities.

Ramshanker Choudhary, Ayub Khan and Sirajuddin were the dreaded leaders of these respective gang. Choudhary is in jail and the other two were shot dead recently but the war goes on. People killed in Gopalganj were Choudhary’s relatives.

The massacre in Jagdishpur is the biggest in recent times, the targets in no way connected to any gang activity. ‘‘We (the fakirs) used to leave the hamlet every morning to collect alms and roam until evening,’’ said Hussain. In the last decade, Siwan is the only place where the MY combination is not effective. RJD politics is Siwan is largely controlled by the controversial MP Mohammed Shahabddin who is least bothered about the Yadav votes which in turn consolidate behind the strongest candidate against Shahabuddin.

Laloo is worried that the Siwan trend of Yadav-Muslim hostility might spread to the rest of the state. To avoid further incidents in the region, a huge police force, including RAF, has been deployed in the district.