A 70-year-old man was beheaded allegedly by around 40-50 men for naming a town sqaure as "Narendra Modi chowk" Bihar's Darbhanga district on Thursday.
"They came with hockey sticks and swords. My father went to them to explain the situation, but was beheaded, they also tried to kill my brother, the son of the victim told ANI on Friday.
The police, however, claimed that murder of Ramchandra Yadav, whose BJP activist son Kamlesh Yadav sustained injuries in the attack, was the fallout of a "personal enmity".
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also termed the incident a case of land dispute.
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"Totally false that murder in Darbhanga case of naming Modi Chawk. Case of land dispute.Board was put long back,Murder has nothing to do with Board," he tweeted.
Kamlesh, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital, told reporters "a chowk (square) at our native village of Bhadavan in Sadar police station area had been named after Narendra Modi two years ago".
"Yesterday, local RJD supporters, who had been opposed to naming of the square after Modi, tried to remove the plaque bearing the name of the square. When we protested, they said that the RJD's victory in the bypolls to one Lok Sabha and an assembly seat marked their party's resurgence and hence they wanted to rename the square after Lalu Prasad", Yadav alleged.
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"The RJD supporters went away after we resolutely opposed them. However, in the night, the group came to hour house riding on motorcycles, attacked my father with a sword, severing his head", Yadav, whose arm was slashed by a sword carried by the assailants, told PTI.
Additional SP, Darbhanga, Dilnawaz Ahmad, however, said "as per our information, the attackers had some personal enmity with Kamlesh Yadav and his family. We are not aware of any dispute over naming of the square, though all angles would be investigated".
"We reached the spot of the incident immediatelyand had arrested the culprits by night. We have recorded the statements of all the witnesses. In the brother's case, we have recorded his statement and our investigating the matter, Ahmad, told ANI.
Meanwhile, BJP workers staged a protest in the town on Friday demanding the arrest of all culprits apart from suspension of Sadar station in-charge.
(With agency inputs)
