PATNA: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday ordered for the transfer of Patna Superintendent of Police (Rural) Vikram Sihag and disciplinary action against three other officials, two days after a violent clash in Mokama.
The clash took place between supporters of the Janata Dal (United) candidate Anant Singh and those of the Jan Suraaj Party, including gangster-turned-politician Dular Chand Yadav, in Mokama, leaving the latter dead.
The ECI earlier sought a report on the incident from the Bihar Director General of Police, Vinay Kumar, on Friday. In its instructions to the state chief electoral officer CEO) on Saturday, the ECI ordered Sihag’s transfer and directed a panel of officers to select his substitute to be sent urgently.
The poll panel also ordered the replacement of Mokama sub-divisional officer-cum-returning officer Chandan Kumar, sub-divisional police officer (Barh-1) Rakesh Kumar, and Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Barh-, Abhishek Singh.
The ECI asked the CEO to submit a compliance report on its instructions by 12 noon on Sunday.
The clash between two groups had taken place during the election campaign near Tartar village under Goshwari police limits under Mokama assembly constituency on Thursday afternoon.
Dular Chand Yadav, a 75-year-old resident of Tartar village, was found dead when the police reached the site, according to officials. The postmortem was conducted under the supervision of a medical board and videographed.
Yadav died while he was campaigning for Jan Suraaj Party's candidate Priyadarshi Piyush in the Mokama area.
"The reason behind Yadav's death is cardiorespiratory failure due to shock caused by injury of the heart and lungs by a hard and blunt substance," said the post-mortem report, submitted to the Patna Police.
The report also mentioned that Yadav was shot near the ankle joint, but the bullet wound was not the cause of his death.
Anant Singh, who is contesting the election on the JD(U) ticket, has been named as an accused along with four others in one of the FIRs registered based on a complaint filed by the grandson of the deceased.
Singh was enlarged on bail ahead of the assembly elections.
Another FIR was lodged against six people based on a complaint filed by the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party, while the third case was registered by the police based on its own investigation.
“Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) is monitoring the cases,” said Jitendra Rana, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Central range.
Veena Devi, wife of Surajbhan Singh (don-turned-politician), is contesting the election on the ticket of Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Veena had earlier served as a Lok Sabha member from Nawada. The situation is still tense in the Mokama area. Armed police forces have been deployed at Tartar village as a precautionary measure.
In addition, strict vigil is being maintained on the visitors from outside.
Earlier, Opposition INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Prasad Yadav questioned the silence of the ECI over the Mokama killing and said that action had not been initiated against officials for their negligence, which led to the incident ahead of elections.