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Two persons were killed and several others injured as police opened fire on Friday in Bihar's Katihar district following stone-pelting by protesters who were demanding better power supply, officials said.
According to the police headquarters in Patna, "more than a dozen police personnel and power department employees" sustained injuries in the incident that took place barely "100 meters away from Barsoi police station".
"Nearly 1,000 local residents were staging a demonstration in front of the power department office. Some anti-social elements had found their way into the crowd and they started hurling stones. When a police party tried to quell the disruptors, they too were attacked with bricks, stones and sticks," said the PHQ, which also shared photos of injured policemen.
Katihar district Magistrate Ravi Prakash told PTI-Bhasha over the phone, "Two of the protesters have died while another is undergoing treatment for injuries at the sub-division hospital."
One of the deceased, who died on the spot, was identified as Khurshid Alam (34), a resident of Baasal village.
The identity of the second deceased was not known though he and the other injured protester were said to be residents of nearby villages.
Katihar superintendent of police Jitendra Kumar, who was camping at the site of the incident, told reporters, "You can gauge the situation from the fact that there is hardly any portion of the power office left without tell-tale signs of the vandalism and stone-pelting."
"The protesters suddenly grew violent and stormed the premises. Officials, including the sub-divisional police officer concerned, who has also sustained injuries, were held hostage by the mob. So, in self-defence, gunfire was used. Investigations are on and stern action will be taken against those involved in the attack on policemen," said the SP.
Meanwhile, the incident drew sharp criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party as also the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist-Liberation, which supports the Nitish Kumar government from outside.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a former president of the state BJP, issued a statement alleging that the incident reflected the "barbarism" of the government helmed by the chief minister's Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Janta Dal, the largest constituent of the state's ruling Mahagathbandhan.
He also demanded the resignation of the chief minister and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, who belongs to the RJD, blaming them for recent incidents of lathi-charge on similar protests in the state capital by teachers' job aspirants and ASHA workers.
The CPI-ML-L, which is a part of the Mahagathbandhan though not a part of the government, accused the BJP of "instigating the crowd" in Katihar.
The CPI-ML-L's legislature party leader Mehboob Alam, who is the MLA of Balrampur where Barsoi is located, also demanded "Rs 20 lakh compensation" to the next of kin of each deceased and ex-gratia to the injured protester.
"The crowd suddenly got violent and we are sure that the BJP had provoked them. Its workers thrive in lawlessness as was evident from their throwing chilli powder at police personnel during a recent demonstration," said Alam.
The reference was to the 'Vidhan Sabha march', in protest against the teacher recruitment policy of the state, staged on July 13 when one of the protesters, Vijay Kumar Singh, died.
The post-mortem report has suggested that the death was caused by a heart attack and there were no injury marks on the body of the deceased.
Alam also added, "The police should have exercised restraint and should not have opened fire. Accountability must be fixed in the matter and action should be taken against police personnel who might be found guilty."