Bihar Panchayat poll violence claims 14 lives

The second phase of panchayat polls in Bihar today turned out as violent as the first phase on Monday. Violence—booth grabbing, group clashes, police firing—claimed the lives of at least 14 people in the state to add to the 12 who died in the earlier round.

The second phase of panchayat polls in Bihar today turned out as violent as the first phase on Monday. Violence—booth grabbing, group clashes, police firing—claimed the lives of at least 14 people in the state to add to the 12 who died in the earlier round.

The most ghastly incident occurred in the Chief Minister’s native district of Nalanda where nine villagers were gunned down allegedly by the hired gunmen of a candidate. Of them, eight belonged to the extremely backward Kahar caste, while one was said to be Dalit. The massacre was reportedly in retaliation against the killing of upper caste Bhumihar outside a polling booth in Sheikhpura district.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed concern over the deaths and said he would visit the village in the morning along with top officials to take stock of the situation.

He assured of taking strong action against the culprits.

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Explaining the chain of events, Anil Sinha, IG Headquarters, said that two persons belonging to a particular caste were contesting the polls in Bhadrathu of Sheikhpura. The supporter of one candidate was killed in a clash outside the booth and the enraged supporters of the rival candidate fired ‘‘indiscriminately’’ on a group of villagers, killing nine people. Sinha stressed that it was not a caste massacre and that it was related to the polls.

Three other persons, including a home guard jawan, were killed in Arwal and Chhapra in violence following attempts by miscreants to capture booths. There were reports of similar group clashes and snatching of ballot papers from many areas.

In an incident which the police claimed was not related to polling, three persons were killed when crude bombs exploded inside a house.