A complaint has been filed against former Munger SP Lipi Singh and several other police officials in a local court over the incident of police brutality on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar has reported. The complaint mentions seven police officials by name including Lipi Singh and current SDO Khageshchand Jha.
The complaint has been filed by one Kelu Yadav aka Dayanand Kumar through advocate Nirmal Kumar. The complaint names SP Lipi Singh, SHO Khageshchand Jha, Krishna Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar, Kotwali officer-in-charge Santosh Kumar Singh, Kasim Bazaar officer-in-charge Shailesh Kumar and Mufassil officer-in-charge Brajesh Kumar as accused.
The complainant said that on 26th October, the murthi of Maa Durga was carried along pre-decided paths and was kept at Teenabatiya on the ACN channel. The aarti ceremony was being carried out by the devotees when the accused came and allegedly threatened to unleash destruction while being abusive. Then the accused allegedly proceeded to brutally thrash the devotees with lathis.
A stampede ensued and everyone ran helter-skelter. Then, in light of the letter from the SDO, the devotees gathered and managed to reach Bata Chowk with the Murthi of Maa Durga. The Mahaarti ceremony was supposed to occur there. But soon, sounds of gunfire came from Deendayal Chowk and another stampede ensued.
Then, the accused proceeded to brutally thrash the devotees again. The victims sustained several serious injuries as a consequence of the assault. The devotees went to register a complaint with the Police but since it was related to the police itself, they were abused and chased away. After the vacation for the Court got over, the victim proceeded to register a judicial complaint.
The Munger Shooting
The violence that gripped the town of Munger in Bihar during the Durga Puja immersion ceremony led to the death of one participant. SP Munger Lipi Singh defended the police brutalities on the devotees, claiming that the stone-pelting from devotees provoked the ensuing violence. She also asserted that 20 policemen were injured by stone-pelting from the crowd. Singh further added that one of the members of the crowd opened fire which led to the death of the 18-year-old devotee.
Later, 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. The report is in stark contrast to what the SP Munger Lipi Singh had claimed earlier 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.