Mob attacks police station in Muzaffarpur, four held

MUZAFFARPUR: Police arrested four persons from Thikahan village under Kathaiya police station in connection with the attack on the police station on Wednesday evening. The arrested persons were remanded in judicial custody on Thursday after producing them before the court of chief judicial magistrate.
Around 200 persons went to Kathaiya police station on Wednesday evening and asked the cops to hand over the alleged child-lifters who were rescued from their clutches and brought to the police station.The mob pelted stones on the cops and ransacked the official vehicle of the police station.
The situation was brought under control only when additional forces were called from neighbouring Baruraj police station. Police had to resort to lathicharge to chase them away.
Muzaffarpur SSP Manoj Kumar said locals were agitated over a rumour about child lifters moving in the area. “They caught two persons, an elderly woman and a man on the apprehension of being child- lifters and thrashed them very badly. However, policemen at Kathaiya police station not only saved the elderly persons but also took them to police station safely,” he said.
“We found that the woman was mentally challenged and was wandering in the vicinity for a couple of days. The man on the other hand, is a beggar and are residents of a nearby villages. The woman has been handed over to her kin,” the SSP said.
Meanwhile, police are on its toes due to frequent incidents of thrashing of elderly people on suspicion of child-lifting. Police sources said on an average two incidents occur everyday and nearly 25 cases have been reported in the last 10 days. Senior police officers have issued an advisory to all police stations in the district to take stern actions against rumour mongers or persons involved in such incidents. “I have issued an advisory to the SHOs of all 35 police stations apart from incharges of the outposts. They have been asked to deal strictly to curb such incidents,” the SSP said.