PATNA: Katihar Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar on Friday informed that the death of two persons and injuries to another one during a violent protest against irregular power supply was not caused by police firing. The official claimed that bullets fired by an unidentified person in the mob killed the protestors.
The deceased were identified as Khursheed Alam and Sonu Kumar Sah.
The SP released a video footage of the incident to substantiate his claim. “Today we reached the spot for physical verification of the incident that took place on Wednesday. During investigation, we checked the video footage of the incident. We noticed that a youth came from the direction where the first death took
place and opened fire. The bullet hit another victim,” he said.
Kumar said that the gun-toting man can be seen opening fire causing injuries to two bystanders killing Khurdsheed Alam on the spot and Sonu Kumar Sah succumbed to his injuries during treatment in the hospital. The third victim identified as Neyaz Alam is undergoing treatment at a hospital in West Bengal, SP added.
Efforts were on to ascertain the identity of the man who fired at the victims during the protest against irregular power supply in Barsoi subdivisional area of the district.
“During verification of the spot where the first victim was hit by bullets we came to know that it was almost impossible for the bullet fired by the police to have hit the deceased as claimed by people,” Kumar revealed.
Katihar district magistrate Ravi Prakash said that two separate FIRs were registered at Barsoi police station in connection with the incident. While the first FIR has been lodged by the electricity department, second FIR has been registered by the police, DM said, adding that the complaint of one of the deceased
Sonu Sah's family has been clubbed with the two FIRs.
According to reliable sources, a two-member team comprising an additional collector and a DSP has been formed to conduct further investigation. “We will share more information after the investigation,” DM Ravi Prakash said.
Meanwhile, leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha demanded a CBI inquiry into the police firing in Katihar. “The district administration is trying to give a new twist to the incident at the behest of political masters,” he told the media.
Earlier, the state government had sought a detailed report from DM and SP on the police firing. The incident has taken a political colour.