Muzzafarpur: An incident sparked by a love affair turned so incendiary in the Bahilwada Bhuwal village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district in India that at least three persons were burnt to death after a mob set on fire around a dozen houses, following the recovery of a youth’s body on Sunday, 18 Jan.
TOI reports that according to police sources, trouble between rival communities had been brewing for the last four-five days after a Hindu boy, Bhartendu Kumar, eloped with a girl belonging to the minority Muslim community.
Family members of both the boy and the girl were accusing each other leading to clashes on Sunday when Bhartendu’s body was found in a paddy field. There are conflicting accounts of who was blamed for the supposed disappearance and death of Bharatendu, and a probe ordered by Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, is underway. But indications are that an irate mob quickly turned this into a communal situation as they gathered outside the home of a person they suspected to be behind the boys murder. Rows of houses and vehicles were gutted in the arson unleashed by the mob which led to the burning to death of at least three people.
According to The Hindustan Times, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ranjeet Kumar Mishra and District magistrate Anupam Kumar rushed to the village with heavy reinforcements to bring the situation under control.
We have to work hard to control the situation. We have talked with responsible persons from both the groups and requested them to maintain restraint, said SSP Mishra. He said that suitable lawful action would be initiated against the people responsible for the incident.
DM Anupam Kumar, told TOI, “14 people have been arrested in connection with the arson. The situation in the village is under control.”
The district administration has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the kin of those who were killed in the clashes. Besides, Rs 1 lakh has been given to the people owning the 20 houses that were torched by the mob. The govt has also given Rs 42,000 each to 57 families that lived in the 20 houses. A relief camp has been set up by the district administration for those affected by the violence. Security in the village has been increased and additional troops have been deployed.
Manjhi, who had gone to Mumbai and was scheduled to go to New Delhi from there, has curtailed his programme and is reaching Patna from Mumbai in the afternoon, sources in Chief Ministers Office said in the state capital, Patna.
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