PATNA: A 22-year-old man was shot dead and at least 13 police personnel and 7 other people were injured in stone pelting and firing during an idol immersion procession in Munger on late Monday night.
The incident took place when the idol procession of Munger’s famous ‘Badi Durga’ was passing through Deendayal Upadhyaya Chowk under Kotwali police station area, SP Lipi Singh said. She said the deceased, Aniruddh Poddar (22), was an onlooker.
“A clash took place between two groups in the processions behind the Badi Durga and they started pelting policemen escorting them with stones. The security personnel lathicharged to disperse the violent crowd, but there was no firing from their side,” Singh said. The SP said the type of splinter injuries sustained by some people prima facie didn’t indicate any police firing.
She said three countrymade pistols and several live and empty cartridges were recovered from the spot. “FIRs have been lodged and 30 persons were detained,” she said. “Things would become clear after inquiry,” she said. “The postmortem was conducted by a board of doctors,” the SP added.
ADG (headquarters) Jitendra Kumar, ADG (law and order) Amit Kumar and additional chief electoral officer Sanjay Kumar Singh rushed to Munger on Tuesday morning to take stock of the situation as three of the assembly seats in Munger along with others in Bihar will go to the polls on Wednesday.
Jitendra told TOI that additional forces and gazetted officers were deployed in Munger town area as precautionary measure to ensure peaceful polling. “A detailed inquiry into the incident will be conducted,” he said, adding the situation was normal. He said immersion of Goddess Durga idols in Munger was completed by Tuesday morning.
The SP blamed a few Puja committees, including that of Badi Durga, for blatantly violating the Covid-19 norms and administration’s guidelines and gathered a huge crowd for the idol immersion.
Singh said police suspect deliberate delay in idol immersion. She said the Wednesday polls would be held as per schedule.