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Red alert in Jehanabad as toll goes up to 22; six arrested

The toll in the massacre by the banned Ranvir Sena at Shankerbigha village in extremist-dominated Jehanabad district of central Bihar has gone up to 22.

Police said in Patna yesterday that two people died of their injuries on the way to hospital. Among the dead were six children.

Another person died in hospital today.

The 10 injured were admitted to the Patna Medical College Hospital.

Meanwhile, irate villagers refused to hand over the bodies to the police for post-mortem and demanded that Chief Minister Rabri Devi visit the village.

State Home Secretary R K Singh, Director General of Police K A Jacob, Inspector General of Police (Operations) B Narayanan along with other officials left for the village to assess the situation.

The state government has sounded a red alert and launched a hunt for the culprits. Patrolling has been intensified in the adjoining districts of Bhojpur, Aurangabad, Gaya and Patna for fear of retaliation.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the CPI (Marxist) have condemned the incident. They have demanded strong action against the culprits and adequate compensation for the families of the victims.

IGP Narayanan later said a special investigation team had been constituted to catch the killers. The team comprises officers from the state criminal investigation department, the special branch, and the district police.

He said six persons had been arrested and efforts are on to capture the others.

UNI

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