By Imran Khan, IANS
Patna : An angry crowd threw stones at a police station in Bihar town and also attacked a man Tuesday, a day after a youth was thrashed by a mob and brutally tortured by police for allegedly snatching a woman’s gold chain.
Mohammad Aurangzeb alias Saleem of Nathnagar town, about 150 km from here, was first severely beaten with leather belts, rods and stones by people Monday after he was caught on the complaint of a woman who lost her gold chain. Later, two policemen dragged him by a motorcycle through a rough road. He was battling for life in a hospital.
Shamed by the exposure of the police brutality by television news channels, the Bihar administration quickly suspended both guilty policemen.
However, some members of the Muslim community in the town Tuesday vent their anger on a man who was identified as part of the mob that had beaten Aurangzeb.
They also surrounded the town’s police station and hurled stones to protest police highhandedness. The police opened fire in the air to disperse the mob. There were no reports of any injuries in the police firing.
Monday’s incident has come as an embarrassment for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who claims to have brought “sushasan” or good governance to Bihar.
Lalu Prasad, railway minister and president of Bihar’s main opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), told reporters in New Delhi Nitish Kumar must step down.
“This has only exposed the real face of Nitish’s widely publicised rule of law. If Nitish is really concerned about the plight of the poor man and is sincere about maintaining law and order, he should immediately slap a case under Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code (attempt to culpable homicide) on the concerned police officer.
“Otherwise, he should stop talking about law and order and instead resign,” Lalu Prasad said.
Lok Janshakti Party chief and Steel Minister Ramvilas Paswan added: “The Nitish Kumar government should take tough action against the policemen.”
According to local social activist Santosh Kumar, Aurangzeb, a rickshaw puller in his early twenties, was beaten brutally by people.
“He was caught after some people chased him. Soon a mob gathered and started beating him after tying his hands behind him. He was crying for help but nobody cared.”
Two policemen soon reached the spot but instead of rescuing him, they tied one of his legs to the back of their motorcycle and dragged him along the rough and bumpy road for not less than 100 metres.
Aurangzeb was badly bruised in the process. According to Bhagalpur district officials, he was admitted in a government hospital in a critical condition.
“He is undergoing treatment but his condition remains critical,” an official said Tuesday.
Bihar Police chief A.R. Sinha Tuesday suspended the two policemen, Ramchandra Rai and L.B. Singh, after TV news channels here showed footage of the entire episode.
The state Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah said: “If a policeman doesn’t respect the public, then he has no right to hold that post.”
“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the matter and the Bhagalpur district superintendent of police has been asked to investigate it,” Amanullah said.
Bihar police spokesperson Inspector General Anil Sinha said that action had been taken against the two policemen and asked the officer in charge of the Nathnagar police station to submit a report soon.
Sinha downplayed the incident saying Aurangzeb had a criminal background. “There were criminal cases lodged against him, he was a known criminal in the area,” he said.
Human rights organisations have condemned the incident and demanded immediate action against police.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Tuesday issued notice to Bihar Police to produce a report on the matter and indicated it could send a team to Bhagalpur to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, Aurangzeb’s grandmother and sister were running from pillar to post for over 24 hours, meeting district officials and requesting them to hand him over to them.
“We are poor, no one takes our words seriously,” the sister said.