On March 20, Bihar Police arrested at least 14 people in connection to the incident where an agitated mob killed a constable and injured three others following an alleged custodial death of a villager. Reports suggest that Hindu man Aniruddh Kumar alias Amrit Yadav was arrested by the Police for the violation of prohibitory order for playing DJ music on Holi.
On Saturday, a DJ system was being played on the occasion of Holi. There was prohibitory order in place. Block Development Officer (BDO) Meera Sharma and CO Manish Kumar confiscated the DJ system and sent it to the police station.
Yadav was the driver of the DJ team that was playing the music on a truck on Holi. Yadav, who was a resident of Aryanagar under Balthar Police station, had gone to the police station to get the DJ system released. He died allegedly after getting beaten up by the Police.
Praveen Kumar, DIG, Champaran Range, was quoted by Hindustan Times saying, “So far, 14 people have been arrested in connection with Balthar incident as per the information available. Search for other accused is on.”
Kanhaiya Yadav, Aniruddh’s brother, accused Police of beating his brother to death. Alleging cops themselves burnt the police vehicles, he said, “After he died, the policemen fled from the police station, setting the vehicles on fire themselves.”
Upendra Nath Verma, Superintendent of Police, Bettiah, claimed Yadav died after he was attacked by bees. He said, “He was not as such under our custody or kept in police lockup. Rather, he was attacked by a swarm of bees when he was drinking water, using a hand pump on the premises of the police station. He was taken to the hospital but died. Bees also emerged from his ear cavity.”
Kundan Kumar, a sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Narkatiaganj, told Hindustan Times that a policeman died after a mob attacked the police station. He further added the miscreants set six vehicles on fire, out of which three belonged to Police, two were private vehicles, and one was a fire brigade vehicle. The deceased police officer was identified as Ram Jatan Rai. He was posted at the Prushottampur police station. Three injured police officers were admitted to the hospital.
Reports further suggested the Police had to open fire to control the mob. A total of 15 rounds were fired. The police personnel at Prushottampur and Gopalpur police stations had to flee the scene to save themselves.