Bihar: 59 BJP leaders booked over protest; cops deny death due to ‘lathi-charge’

The Bihar police on Thursday lodged a first information report (FIR) against 59 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers on the charges of blocking the roads, stone pelting, permission without entry in restricted areas, obstruction of government work, and attack on police personnel during the ongoing protest organised by the opposition party.

The FIR was registered at the Kotwali police station based on the statement of a magistrate.

“The district administration granted permission for a meeting organised in the Gandhi Maidan but no permission was given for the Vidhan Sabha march. The protestors break barricades, threw chilli powder and pelted stones at the police to reach the central poking,” said Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajiv Mishra.

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The BJP on Thursday organised a Vidhan Sabha march mainly over the state government’s teacher recruitment policy and a demand for the resignation of deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav in view of the new charge sheet recently filed against him by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in alleged land-for-jobs scam in railways, among other issues.

The protest led by Bihar BJP chief Samrat Choudhary and comprising legislators and leaders was started from Gandhi Maidan in Patna towards the Vidhan Sabha, however, as the protest reached Dakbungalow intersections, a prohibited area for the Dharnas and procession, the police resorted to water canons, tear gas shells and lathi-charged to disperse them in which a BJP leader allegedly died while several others injured.

The deceased was identified as Vijay Kumar Singh, 46, the general secretary of the BJP’s Jehanabad unit. He succumbed to injuries at the Patna Medical College and Hospital on Thursday allegedly.

While BJP leaders have alleged that Singh died in the police lathi charge, Patna district administration and police were quick to put out a brief statement, asserting that “no injury marks” were found on his body.

The Bihar Police has claimed that Singh was not ‘killed’ in lathi-charge as he was not present at the protest site when the police action took place, while the BJP has iterated he was “very much present” at the spot.

SSP Mishra on Thursday held a press conference in the Kotwali police station and said that Singh was not injured in the police lathi charge.

“Police used mild lathi charge when the protestors took the law into their hands,” Mishra said, adding that the Singh never reached Dakbungalow.

According to CCTV footage obtained by the Bihar police, Singh, along with two others was seen on way to the Chhaju Bagh area from Gandhi Maidan at around 1:22pm on Thursday, the footage also captured a rickshaw in which Vijay was taken to a nearby hospital at around 1:27pm.

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“We are still awaiting the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause of his death,” said SSP Mishra. The post-mortem was conducted by a team of the medical board with videography.

According to PMCH superintendent Dr I S Thakur, Singh was brought to PMCH in an unconscious state at around 2pm. “He was admitted to the ICU but died during treatment. No external injury marks were found on his body,” he said.

Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai, a former Bihar BJP president, told reporters that the death of Vijay Singh during the protest march was a “sacrificial offering”.

BJP leaders claimed that more than 20 party workers are currently undergoing treatment at the PMCH. Meanwhile, a BJP leader said a central team of the party will also visit Patna amid the escalating showdown with chief minister Nitish Kumar’s government.