PATNA: Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday expressed his deep concern over communal violence during Ramnavami in Bihar's Sasaran and Biharsharif and spoke to governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to take stock of the situation in the state.
Shah later decided to send additional central armed forces to Bihar to assist state administration in dealing with situations. He, however, hastened to add that central forces would be sent on request of the state government.
Police arrested 106 persons from two trouble-torn districts and prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC clamped in Biharsharif, the district headquarters of Nalanda. Police sources said that 26 people were arrested from Rohtas, and 80 from Nalanda.
According to reports, one person was killed and several others were injured following clashes between two groups in Nalanda late on Saturday evening. In Rohtas, six people were injured in a bomb blast. Police said the blast took place in a house at Sasaram and one motorbike suspected to belong to troublemakers was recovered from the spot.
“The injured have been admitted to a local hospital for treatment,” a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, Shah's visit to the frontier headquarters of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) in Patna has been cancelled.
In a statement, the central para-military force said that the union minister's visit to SSB's frontier headquarters has been cancelled due to unavoidable reasons. The union minister was scheduled to perform 'Bhoomi Pujan' for a new building of the central para-military force in Patna. His programme to visit the BJP office in the state capital has also been cancelled.
BJP MLC Sanjay Mayukh said that Shah would go to Nawada to address a public meeting and leave for New Delhi in the evening. He will leave for Nawada by a chopper from Patna and return to Patna airport from where he will go to New Delhi, he added.