Two days after two persons died in alleged police firing at Barsoi in Bihar’s Katihar when the villagers gathered outside the office of the Electricity Department, the Bihar police have said that the death did not happen due to police firing, but by bullets shot by an unidentified person.
The Bihar police released CCTV footage of the Katihar firing incident that took place on Wednesday, July 26 to back its claims.
Speaking about the incident, Katihar SP, Jitendra Kumar said, “Today, we came here (incident spot) for an inquiry. Whatever we do will be fact-based. We checked the CCTV camera…We first went where the body was recovered & found that it is impossible for the bullet fired by the police to have hit the deceased given the distance. It is visible in the CCTV that a youth comes & opens fire at the two deceased…”
“He can be then seen shooting at and injuring two other bystanders, one of whom died later,” the official said. “We first went where the body was recovered and found that it was impossible for the bullet fired by the police to have hit the deceased, given the distance. The CCTV footage confirmed our doubts,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Katihar District Magistrate Ravi Prakash informed that the police have filed two FIRs in the case. “One FIR has been filed by the electricity department and another by the police. The complaint filed by victim Sonu Sahu’s family has been clubbed with both FIRs,” Ravi Prakash said.
Although he withheld the names of the accused, he stated that both FIRs had been filed against known and unnamed individuals.
He also said that a two-member team comprising the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) and the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) has been formed to conduct a further inquiry into the incident and that so far, no one has been taken into custody in this matter.
On the 26th of July, two persons died in police firing at Barsoi in Bihar’s Katihar when the villagers gathered outside the office of the Electricity Department. They have been protesting against the irregular supply of electricity and higher power tariffs. However, in a shocking turn of events, the power outage protest turned deadly. Reportedly, Khurshid Alam died on the spot and Sonu Kumar Sahu, one of the two others who had sustained serious injuries in police firing succumbed to his injuries at a hospital a few hours later. The second injured, Neyaz Alam, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Siliguri in West Bengal for his bullet injury.
As per the information received, Police officials tried to control the protestors and resorted to lathi charges and aerial firing. However, things went out of hand and the police opened fire.
The Police officials stated that the mob carried primitive weapons including sticks and boulders. The mob got violent and pelted stones at the government office. Around 12 officials of the electricity department were injured in the attack. The officials claim that the violent mob and stone pelting prompted them to open fire.