Ahead of the assembly state elections in the state, Bihar was convulsed with a horrifying episode of violence when Durga Procession devotees were mercilessly attacked by the police personnel in the Munger district. The devotees were charged with batons and shots were fired at them, claiming the life of one 18-year-old Hindu boy. Now, a CISF report from a local unit to police headquarters says that the first shot was fired by the police on the attendees of the Durga Puja procession ceremony.
#BREAKING | Big twist in Munger probe: Report sent by the local unit to Police HQ.
— CNNNews18 (@CNNnews18) October 30, 2020
The report claims that the first shot was fired by the police.@Arunima24 with details.
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The CISF report, which was issued on October 27, a day after the incident, said that at the request of Munger Kotwali police station, a detachment of CISF troops was sent to the district school for the protection of the Durga immersion procession ceremony. The report mentions that the phalanx of troops sent by CISF that contained 20 personnel was divided into two groups of 10 each. One of the groups was posted along with SSB and Bihar Police personnel at Deendayal Upadhyay Chowk, Munger.
The report claims that the dispute between the devotees and police began at around 11:45 pm on the night of October 26, 2020. It states that some people started pelting stones on police and security forces after which the Munger Police opened the first fire.
The report says that CISF head constable M Gangaiah fired 13 rounds of bullets from his INSAS rifle. The firing by the personnel dispersed the crowd following which the personnel of CISF, SSB and local police returned to their camp.
It is pertinent to note here that the video which had gone viral on social media showed devotees crouched, trying to protect the Durga Man murti, while the police were mercilessly showering lathis on them. Presumably, the stone pelting started after this ‘dispute’ that led to the police showering lathis on the devotees.
CISF report punctures the claims made by SP Munger Lipi Singh about violence in Munger
The report is in stark contrast to what the SP Munger Lipi Singh had claimed a few days ago while justifying the police action against the Durga Puja attendees. Singh had alleged that one of the members of the crowd opened fire which led to the death of the 18-year-old devotee. She had also claimed that it was the stone pelting from the people that had provoked police to take action against them.
Several videos of the incident had gone viral on the internet, raising a question on the police conduct against devotees indulging in the immersion ceremony of Goddess Durga. In the videos that are doing the rounds on social media websites, devotees were seen peacefully carrying Goddess Durga for the immersion ceremony when a bunch of police personnel rain lathis on them. Terrified that the assault might defile Goddess Durga’s idol, devotees scramble to surround the idol of Goddess Durga, presumably to protect her from the police onslaught.
Police open fire at Durga Visarjan procession in Munger
Tension continues to grip Munger town and the surrounding areas in Bihar after violence washeaped at a Hindu procession for Durga idol immersion. An 18-year-old youth has reportedly been killed and several others injured in the firing that took place on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
The violence, as per reports, broke out after Kotwali police asked Hindus not to delay the idol immersion procession of Shadipur Badi Durga. Traditionally, the idols are immersed after three days of Vijayadashami but this time, in view of the first phase of Assembly polls in the state on Wednesday, the administration had insisted on the immersion by 5 am on Tuesday.
Durga puja organizers, as instructed, had taken out the procession allegedly with DJs close to midnight as they headed for the immersion. The situation turned ugly around 11.50 pm when police officials used brutal force on Hindus going for Durga Puja Visarjan.