Kota cops confirm Bihar Tiger Force's existence

Jaipur: The existence of 'Bihar Tiger Force', a group of coaching students in Kota that was involved in stabbing to death a 19-year-old medical aspirant a few days ago - is now official.Kota police, in a recent submission to a lower court, admitted that such a group indeed exists in Kota and was involved in the murder. The murder was the result of a fall-out over supremacy between two factions of this group. These factions had been at loggerheads for the past few months after a new leader of the group was chosen.Senior police officers have so far been reluctant in verifying the local residents' claim that a syndicated group of coaching students is only thriving in the country's leading coaching hub, but is also involved in creating nuisance and serious crimes like robberies and extortion.Kota police have arrested seven people - four of them minors. Of them, six are coaching students in Kota, while one is a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) student at a private college in Bhopal. He was earlier a coaching student in Kota and had been leader of one of the factions.On May 12, Prince alias Satya Prakash, a resident of Nawada in Bihar, and Sandeep were having dinner in the mess when a group of nearly 50 students - calling themselves as members of Bihar Tiger Force - attacked them. Satya Prakash succumbed to injuries, while Sandeep is struggling for life at a hospital. Both were coaching students.After arresting seven people, Kota police produced them in a court on Thursday and while seeking remand of some of them, the officials told the court that the accused were members of Bihar Tiger Force involved in the killing."Two of the leaders - Manjesh Kumar and Nishant alias Rocky - are above 18 years. While others taken into custody are minors. Manjesh is a coaching student in Kota, while Nishant is a BE student at a private college in Bhopal," said SHO, Mahaveer Nagar police station, Kalu Ram.Bihar Tiger Force was formed nearly eight years ago. Manjesh was the current leader of one of the factions of the group, while Nishant was a former leader.The group takes a monthly protection fee from many students and forces them to become its members. Those who don't toe the line are harassed, threatened and even beaten up. The group leaders have also been involved in crimes like gold snatching, robberies and misbehaving with girls in full public view in Kota.According to the police, the group split into two factions when few of its members chose another leader recently. Determined not to step down from his position, Manjesh and his supporters had a fall out with the new faction.On hearing about the split, Nishant came to Kota and asked Manjesh to establish his supremacy. The murder of Prince was a result of the supremacy fight, said a senior police officer.Bihar Tiger Force