Protests into death of 12-year-old in Bihar escalate into violence; six policemen, six villagers injured

Sheohar: Six policemen, including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), were on Sunday injured when a mob threw stones at the cops when they tried to remove a road blockade put by villagers in Bihar’s Sheohar district. [caption id=“attachment_3536847” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Superintendent of Police (SP) PN Mishra said that SDPO Pritish Kumar was among six policemen injured when a mob threw stones at the cops at Basantpatti village while they were trying to remove road blockade put by the villagers demanding compensation to next of kin of a boy who died after being hit by a motorcycle. As many as six villagers were also injured in the lathi charge by the police, eyewitnesses claimed. The local people claimed that the police fired in the air to disperse the mob, but the SP denied police firing in the air. SDPO Pritish Mishra’s bodyguard Ramiz Raja has been referred to a hospital in Muzaffarpur in view of his serious condition, Mishra said, adding that the other injured policemen are — Nandkishore Sharma, Neeraj Kumar, Alok Kumar, Saroj Mishra and Misha have been admitted to Sadar hospital. The SP said that he was camping in the village with the District Magistrate Raj Kumar in view of tension prevailing in the area. After hearing the news of the death of the 12-year-old injured boy in a hospital last night, the villagers gathered at Basantpatti village this morning and put up a road blockade demanding compensation to the family of the victim. The policemen from Puranhia police station rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the mob to lift the blockade which pelted stones on the cops prompting them to lathi charge the protesters to disperse them from the spot.