Bihar under grip of communal clashes, violence erupts in Samastipur, Munger

After clashes in Bhagalpur and Aurangabad, Bihar witnessed another spate of communal violence in Samastipur district on Tuesday. Tension ran high in Rosera area after clashes erupted between two groups following an altercation.

Senior police officers rushed to the spot prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were clamped barring an assembly of more than four people in an area.

PATNA: After clashes in Bhagalpur and Aurangabad, Bihar witnessed another spate of communal violence in Samastipur and Munger districts on Tuesday. Tension ran high in Samastipur's Rosera after clashes erupted between two groups following a dispute. Agitated mob unleashed itself on police personnel sent to control violence and pelted stones on another group. An ASP and a DSP were injured in the attack. Senior police officers rushed to the spot prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC were clamped barring an assembly of more than four people in the area. In another such clash, 10 people were injured in Munger district when two groups clashed and pelted stones on each other during an idol immersion procession. Bullets were fired and a petrol bomb was also hurled. Bihar has been under the grip of communal clashes since last week. On Sunday, clashes had erupted in Aurangabad between members of two communities during a Ram Navami procession. Over 50 persons were arrested for inciting tension in the district. The state government has deputed senior IPS officer Gupteshwar Pandey to Aurangabad to restore peace and harmony in trouble-torn areas of the district. A week earlier, communal violence had erupted in Bhagalpur over playing of loud music during a religious procession which was being led by Arijit Shashwat, son of Union Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey. The issue had rocked the Assembly on Tuesday with Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav slamming chief minister Nitish Kumar over the recent increase in incidents of communal violence in some parts of the state. "As we have said many times, Nitish Kumar has lost his grip over the administration in the state. The entire bureaucratic machinery has become subservient to the agenda of the BJP-RSS. Bihar is now being ruled, not from Patna, but from Nagpur (the RSS headquarters)," PTI quoted Tejashwi as saying on Tuesday.