56 held, FIRs against 600 for GT Road block

Bokaro: Giridih police on Friday claimed to have arrested 56 people and filed FIRs against 600 for blocking GT Road in Atka in Bagodar for over eight hours on Thursday night to demand re-counting for the seat of zila parishad post in the panchayat elections. More than 12 bikes lying unclaimed at the spot have also been seized.
Bagodar SDPO Naushad Alam said FIRs against 105 identified people and 500 unidentified ones were lodged while the police had to resort to a lathicharge around 10 pm on Thursday to disperse the protestors. “Stones were thrown by the protestors which injured two policemen,” he added.
The sit-in was organised by the supporters of Shatrughan Prasad Mandal, who lost the Bagodar West zila parishad seat by 13 votes to Durgesh Kumar.
Mandal’s supporters claimed that the counting was not transparent and had organised a protest to demand a recounting.