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BJP attacks CM Nitish over worker's death: ‘Ever since he became friends with…’
BJP attacked Nitish Kumar over the death of a party worker in Bihar, alleging he has adopted Mamata Banerjee's methods.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday attacked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over the death of a party worker, alleging the JD(U) leader has “adopted the methods” of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ever since the two “became friends.” The BJP has alleged that the party's general secretary of Jehanabad’s unit, Vijay Kumar Singh, succumbed to injuries revived in a police lathi-charge during the protests over teacher recruitment policy and other issues.
BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the police action alleging that the party worker died due to the stampede and manhandling by the police.
“I condemn the attack on BJP workers in Bihar by Nitish Kumar's Police force...Nitish Kumar ever since you became friends with Mamata Banerjee you have adopted her methods,” Prasad said.
“Our workers died in the stampede and manhandling. Their limbs were broken. What are they demanding? That Tejashwi Yadav, who is chargesheeted in a scam, be removed from his post...I condemn this...People will respond to you,” he added.
Police deny BJP's claim
The Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Rajiv Mishra, however, said at a press conference that the BJP worker was not injured in the police lathi-charge.
"Preliminary investigation and scrutiny of CCTV footages of different locations have revealed that Vijay Kumar Singh, who was a native of Jehanabad, had never reached the Dak Bungalow roundabout where the lathi-charge took place," Mishra said in a statement late on Thursday.
"In one of the footages, Singh and two persons accompanying him are seen moving in Chajju Bagh area through the Gandhi Maidan-Chajju Bagh Road at 1.22 pm. All three were interacting with each other and he was in a healthy condition. The rickshaw on which he was later taken to a nearby hospital was also seen in the same video at 1.27 pm. Later, eyewitnesses told police that Singh was seen lying on the road near an electric transformer, around 50 meters away from the CCTV camera," Mishra said.
Lathi-charge did not take place in that area, he said, adding that no external injury marks were found on the body of Singh.
"The two persons accompanying Singh have also told the police that they did not go to the Dak Bungalow roundabout. When they came to know about police barricading the roundabout, they decided not to go towards it. After that, Singh's friends took him to a nearby hospital by rickshaw. We believe that the rickshaw might have taken five to six minutes to reach the nearby hospital. The incident of his fainting might have taken place between 1.23 pm and 1.27 pm. The footage also revealed that no policemen were seen around Singh or around the rickshaw," the statement said.
"There was no scene of any kind of stampede in the footage taken from the Chajju Bagh area. Complete normal movement of traffic was seen in the area. The exact cause of his death can only be ascertained after the post-mortem report," the SSP said.
He said a total of 59 people were detained in connection with the BJP's protest march but all of them were later released.
(With inputs from agencies)
