Girl found dead on railway track, mob torches Kaimur police station, injures 7 cops

The mob was agitated by the death of a college going student, who was found in an unconscious state with one of her hands chopped off from the elbow, on the railway tracks on Wednesday.

Pandemonium prevailed in Ramgarh, a semi-urban town in Bihar’s Kaimur district, as hundreds of agitators, resorted to brickbat and arson on a police party, burnt vehicles and torched the entire Ramgarh police station, leaving at least seven police personnel including a DSP injured. The injured, a couple of them critical, were later sent to Varanasi (UP) for better treatment.

Fire fighters put out the fire at Ramgarh police station on Friday (Hindustan Times)

The mob was agitated by the death of a college going student, who was found in an unconscious state with one of her hands chopped off from the elbow, on the railway tracks on Wednesday.

She was taken to a hospital in Varanasi, where she died on Thursday. On Friday, demanding the arrest of a private bank’s customer service centre operator of Baraura village, who they accused, had raped the student and later threw her on the tracks to eliminate her, and simultaneously demanding Rs. 25 lakh compensation and a government job to her next of kin, a mob comprising the victim’s family members and community brethren, first blocked the town’s main thoroughfare at Durga chowk and later marched to the local Ramgarh police station before resorting to vandalism.

Eye witnesses said that the 100-strong mob set several police and private vehicles on fire and began pelting stones, compelling police to open fire in the air to disperse them. As they fled, Ramgarh police chased and nabbed at least a dozen of them.

By this time, more people had joined the agitation and they all blocked the busy Mohania-Buxar Road with the girl’s body, completely halting vehicular movement. This time, they demanded that the Kaimur SP and DM visit them and address their demand. The SP and DM, however, could not rush there as they were in Patna attending a state-level meeting in view of the elections.

As the message spread to Patna, senior officials directed Mohania DSP Raghunath Singh to visit Durga Chowk and give patient hearing to the aggrieved people. But as the DSP reached the spot with his team, the berserk mob attacked them with stones and bricks forcing them to flee by firing in the air.

However, even while fleeing, at least seven of them including the DSP suffered injuries. They have been admitted to a local hospital for treatment.

The mob marched to the Ramgarh police station, freed their people from the lock-up, and then torched the entire building. Local reporters were also attacked and warned from taking pictures. The mob also tried to snatch and damage cameras of reporters.

All the policemen of Ramgarh police station had to flee to nearby Daitara Baba locality to save their lives. DIG (Sahabad), Rakesh Rathi reached late afternoon with reinforcements and somehow convinced the mob to remove the blockade. Fire fighting machines were rushed to the police station to douse the fire. By the time of filing of this report, normalcy was returning to the township.

After his meeting in Patna, SP Md Faroghuddin said the deceased girl’s mother in her petition submitted with RPF, Bhabua Road station, which was duly signed by her brother and five other relatives as witnesses, had said that her 19-year-old daughter was injured in a train accident and had outrightly declined any foul play. She said after the doctors at Mahania Referral Hospital failed to resuscitate her, she took her daughter to Varanasi out of her own will, where the patient died.

The SP said, driver of the said train no. 12381 had also informed GRP and RPF that a girl had came in front of his train and was injured. “If the family had any suspicion in the 19-year-old’s death or had any grievances, they should have come to police. Instead, they chose to take law into their hands. Police will not spare the rioters who torched the police station and injured our officers,” he said.

Previous attacks on police in the region

GRAPHIC

*September 18, 2016 – A 500 strong violent mob of Bind community attacked a police party at Bhabhua, torched three vehicles including a police jeep and injured several policemen.

*March 17, 2015 – Mob attacked Mohania police station and torched three police vehicles after director of a private school was lynched at Mohania market.

* July 8,, 2014 – Two persons were killed and three injured in police firing when 500 people of a particular community attacked Rohtas police station over an objectionable whatsapp message against Prophet Mohammad

TIMELINE: 

January 16—The girl found unconscious on railway tracks and referred to Varanasi

January 17- Dies during treatment

January 18-

9.30am- More than 100 people block Durga Chowk with the 19-year-old’s body

10.30am- Few of them attack Ramgarh police station nearby

12.30pm- Attack DySP and his team, who had come to discuss, police station torched

3.30pm- DIG Rakesh Rathi reach Ramgarh with heavy reinforcement and discuss with agitators

4pm- The agitators withdraw blockades after DIG assures action against culprits if they submit written complaint