Imam killed in ‘retaliatory’ fire in Munger

Shailendra Yadav, a relative of Rashtriya Janata Dal youth wing district president Pramod Yadav, was kidnapped and killed late last night by criminals allegedly belonging to the minority community in the same area.

‘‘It seems like retaliatory killing. It looks like the criminals want to create panic in the area. The main town is peaceful,’’ said Munger District Magistrate Gautam Goswami. He asserted that the situation was ‘‘under control’’.

According to police, Shailendra Yadav’s murder, who was an employee of the Jamalpur railway shed, has led to an outbreak of violence between Muslims and Yadavs in the area. Both communities form the main votebank of the ruling RJD and this is the first time that tension has broken out between Muslims and Yadavs, who are otherwise considered close to each other.

RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav told reporters today that criminals were behind both killings. He said the State Government was keeping a close watch over the situation and that everything was under control.

Apart from deploying a heavy police force, the Government has sent RJD Minister Monazir Hassan and Munger MLA J.N. Yadav to Purab Sarai. They will make an on-the-spot assessment and submit a report to Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

The police have also registered two FIRs over the killing of the three persons and the local authorities have now called a meeting of the local peace committee to suggest measures to ease the tension. Munger, which has a sizeable Muslim population, has no history of communal tension. The nearby district of Bhagalpur is known to be a communally-sensitive area. In 1989, over 1,500 people had died in communal riots in Bhagalpur.