Bihar cop lynched during raid at Bengal village

PATNA: A police inspector posted as a station house officer (SHO) in Kishanganj district was beaten to death by a mob during a raid in the adjoining North Dinajpur district in West Bengal in the wee hours of Saturday.
The deceased, Ashwini Kumar (52), was the SHO of the Kishanganj model police station. The incident took place around 3.30 am when the SHO along with half a dozen police personnel had gone to nab the kingpin of a motorbike lifters' gang.

Some residents of Pantapara village under Panjipara police station in the neighbouring state engaged in a verbal duel, and tried to stop the raiding team from entering the house of the gang leader.
The SHO intervened when the complainant of a stolen motorbike, who was accompanying the raiding team, was pelted with stones and thrashed by the residents. The mob then turned on the SHO, who tried to intervene, and beat him mercilessly. Other members of the Kishanganj police team managed to escape.

On getting information, IG (Purnia range) Suresh Prasad Choudhary and Kishanganj SP Ashish Anand contacted their counterparts in West Bengal, who sent a police team to the spot. The injured SHO was rushed to Islampur sub-divisional hospital where he has declared dead.
IG Choudhary said three people, including Firoz Alam, stated to be involved in motorbike thefts, were taken into custody and brought to Kishanganj for interrogation. "Raids are on to nab others involved in the killing of the police officer," he told this newspaper over the phone.

The deceased SHO, stated to be a resident of Panchu Tola, under Janki Nagar police station in Purnia district, was posted in Kishanganj about a year ago. His body was handed over to the family after a guard of honour accorded to him at the police lines.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday inquired from the DGP SK Singhal about the killing of the Kishanganj police inspector in West Bengal. The CM instructed the DGP to give compensation and other benefits to the deceased's family at the earliest.

The DGP informed the CM that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident. He also talked to the DGP of West Bengal who assured cooperation in the investigation. The CM later directed the authorities concerned to provide job to the victim's family on compassionate ground.
Sources in the Bihar police headquarters said DGP Singhal spoke to his West Bengal counterpart and expressed displeasure over the non-cooperation of the West Bengal police during the operation.
Kishanganj DSP Anwar Javed said the two mobile phones of the SHO, which were missing since the incident, have been recovered. He said the site of occurrence is hardly 12 km from the Kishanganj district headquarters.
IG Choudhary, however, denied any political angle in the incident. The spot falls under the Golpokhar assembly seat, where the election will be held on April 22.
This is not an isolated incident. Earlier, the SHO of Majorganj police station Dinesh Ram was killed by suspected liquor smugglers during a raid in Sitamarhi district on February 24.
On Friday, Sitamarhi police arrested one of the prime accused Shivam Singh alias Tuktuk Singh from Gujarat.