Law & order normal, situation promptly controlled in 2 districts: Chief Secy

Chief secretary Amir Subhani said those behind the attempts to disturb peace would be identified and dealt with as per law.

PATNA: Speaking on the law-and-order situation in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif, the state chief secretary along with the director general of police (DGP) on Sunday said that the situation is under control and the recent violence is an attempt to disturb peace in the two districts.

Police keep vigil after a clash erupted in Sasaram, on Saturday. (AFP)

Interacting with the media after a review was conducted by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with top officials, chief secretary Amir Subhani said those behind the attempts to disturb peace would be identified and dealt with as per law.

“The CM’s direction is to maintain rule of law at any cost and ensure the identification of culprits. The preparations in view of important festivals started a week before and there were regular meetings held through video conferencing with DMs, SPs, SSPs, divisional commissioners, range DIGs, and IGs to review preparedness. Intelligence input was also shared based on past records. Barring the two districts, things passed off smoothly. In the two districts, the situation was promptly controlled, and peace was restored. The government will not tolerate such attempts to disturb peace,” said Subhani.

DGP Rajwinder Singh Bhatti said that 109 arrests have so far been made. “The state had deployed five companies of the central armed police force (CAPF) for Ram Navami and four more companies arrived Saturday evening. There will be an unbiased and evidence-based investigation into the incidents,” the DGP said.

Bhatti said that one person lost his life in Nalanda, while all the injured in Sasaram have been arrested on suspicion that they were either involved in bomb-making or were carrying it.

Speaking with HT, the DGP said that he received information that some antisocial threw bombs on people of a particular community who were on their way to a mosque to offer prayers. “At around 5 am, a team of FSL, dog squad, and bomb disposal and detection team were rushed to the spot and they thoroughly inquired about the incident. The team, prima-facie, detected a small manufacturing unit of illegal explosive materials,” the DGP said.