PATNA: A political slugfest has erupted in Bihar following two incidents in Madhubani and Patna districts, prompting Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, to launch an attack on the state's BJP-led NDA government.
In Madhubani district, a police Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) allegedly entered a woman's house at around 1 am, raising suspicions among local residents. When villagers confronted him, he allegedly opened fire with his service pistol, killing a 50-year-old man, identified as Ashok Yadav, and injuring three others.
In Patna district, three contract shooters — Rajesh Sharma, Bablu Kumar (Bablu Yadav) and JP Yadav — were killed in a police encounter under the jurisdiction of Maner police station on Friday. The back-to-back incidents prompted the Opposition to target the government over the law-and-order situation.
Launching a scathing attack on Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Tejashwi alleged in a post on X: “People will now be responsible for their own safety... The CM should put up signboards everywhere. Bihar Police are shooting at ordinary people inside their homes, while criminals are shooting at the police.”
He claimed that the situation in Bihar had become alarming since a person accused of murder became Chief Minister. He further alleged that whenever the CM and the police come under pressure over the unchecked crime situation, they target people belonging to a particular caste through encounters to divert public attention.
Echoing Tejashwi's allegations, RJD MLA Bhai Virendra claimed that members of the Muslim and Yadav communities were being targeted. He alleged that people were being falsely implicated in cases and sent to jail, while efforts were being made to ensure they were denied bail.
“If a criminal opens fire at the police and is killed in retaliatory firing, there is no problem. However, someone cannot be branded a criminal merely because they have been named in a case arising out of personal enmity,” he claimed.
The RJD MLA from Maner said crime had no caste, but police encounters should not be conducted on the basis of caste. “In the past, several such cases have been reported in which people belonging to particular castes were targeted by the police,” he asserted.
He demanded a thorough investigation into the entire incident.
Meanwhile, during a media interaction, Bihar Cooperative Minister and BJP leader Ram Kripal Yadav said that the allegations made by the families of those killed in the Maner encounter warranted an investigation.
However, when asked why he was not ordering a probe, he said the Chief Minister and the administration would decide the next course of action.
Dismissing the Opposition's allegations of caste-based police action, the minister said that criminals had no caste.