Patna: Taking a serious notice, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the firing by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawans in Batraha village of Araria district which left four Muslim villagers dead and several others injured on Monday 20 Dec. As immediate relief, the CM announced Rs 1 lakh to the family of each victim.
According to media reports, on Sunday night some SSB jawans barged into the house of Md Akbar, a resident of the village, and tried to rape a female member of the house but as she raised alarm for help villagers gathered and the jawans fled.
On Monday the villagers went to the SSB’s camp and complained to the officials about the incident, and demanded stringent action against the guilty. Instead of inquiry, the SSB officials rejected the charge. This behavior of the officials infuriated the villagers and they started protesting in front of the camp, leading to clash between the two sides. Subsequently the SSB jawans opened fire on the protestors, killing four of them on the spot and wounding several others. The deceased have been identified as Mohammad Shahnawaz, Mohammad Jabir, Mohammad Qurban and Farhat Jahan. About half a dozen injured have been admitted at hospital.
Meanwhile, expressing his concern over the incident the Chief Minister has assured that action would be taken against the SSB jawans involved in the incident. He ordered divisional commissioner and Purnia DIG to investigate the incident jointly and submit report as soon as possible.
He also instructed DGP Neelmani and Home Secretary Aamir Subhani to talk to SSB officials to make sure that such inhuman incident is not repeated in the future.
Nearly 50 km from the district headquarters, the Batraha village is situated at Indo-Nepal border and comes under the Kursakanta police station of the district where SSB, a central paramilitary force, is deployed to check the Maoists’ activists and smuggling.
As SSB comes under the Union Home Ministry, the Bihar CM has said he would approach the Central Government for appropriate compensation to the victims.
Meanwhile, the latest report reaching Patna says that three jawans have been arrested and their rifles seized.
[Photo by http://afterbtech.com]
No comments:
Post a Comment