Bihar: Banka SDPO, six cops injured

BHAGALPUR: The henchmen of sand mafia attacked Banka SDPO Dinesh Chandra Srivastava, who was leading a police team and mining department officials at Jathore ghat near Janakpur village under Amarpur police station in Banka district on Tuesday night. A truck driver was killed in the firing by those involved in illegal sand mining. The deceased was identified as Fantoosh Yadav.
Dinesh, who received serious head injuries, has been admitted to Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH) at Bhagalpur.Six other policemen also got injured and they were undergoing treatment at Banka government hospital.
Following Fantoosh’s murder, villagers blocked the Banka-Bhagalpur road near Mahagama demanding probe into the incident and compensation to the kin of the deceased. The road blockade was lifted after police intervened.
Banka SP Arvind Kumar Gupta said on a tip-off about illegal sand mining from Jathore ghat, a police team led by SDPO Dinesh along with mining department officials raided Janakpur and saw several trucks and tractors laden with sand parked near the ghat. When the persons involved in illegal sand mining saw the police, they attacked them with bricks and lathis. Police and mining department vehicles were also damaged by the illegal sand miners.
In the melee, someone opened fire and the bullet hit Fantoosh, said sources.
Bhagalpur DIG Vikas Vaibhav said the postmortem report would clear how Fantoosh got killed.
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, the police and mining department team had raided the sand ghats at Rajoun in Banka district and seized several trucks and 11 tractors laden with sand.