Two persons were killed and over a dozen policemen and power department employees suffered injuries in a clash between cops and villagers protesting power cuts in Katihar district of Bihar on Wednesday. Unverified videos, purportedly of the incident, show police personnel opening fire at a mob of protesters.
The incident took place around 100 metres away from the Barsoi police station in the district, the Bihar police headquarters said in a statement, adding that anti-social elements found their way into the crowd of protesters who started hurling stones.
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“Nearly 1,000 local residents were staging a demonstration in front of the power department office. Some anti-social elements had found their way into the crowd and they started hurling stones. When a police party tried to quell the disruptors, they too were attacked with bricks, stones and sticks,” the police said, sharing photos of the injured policemen.
Katihar District Magistrate Ravi Prakash confirmed to news agency PTI that two of the protesters have died while another is undergoing treatment for injuries at the sub-division hospital.
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While one deceased has been identified as 34-year-old Khurshid Alam, a resident of Baasal village, the identity of the second deceased is yet to be ascertained. The injured protester is believed to be a resident of a nearby village.
“You can gauge the situation from the fact that there is hardly any portion of the power office left without tell-tale signs of the vandalism and stone-pelting,” Katihar Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar, who was camping at the site of the incident, told reporters.
(With PTI inputs)