FIR against Manjhaul SDPO lodged

BEGUSARAI: In a somewhat delayed reaction to the cold-blooded killing of two innocent youths, “guessing� them to be criminals, by the police near the Manjhaul police outpost in the Begusarai district on Monday evening, the district administration on Wednesday ordered to lodge an FIR against the Manjhaul sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) and his bodyguards.
Two youths — Rajni Ranjan Singh, son of the late ADM Kamta Prasad Singh, and his friend Rajesh Kumar Singh — were killed and three others injured when a police party led by Manjhaul SDPO Maheshwar Mahto reportedly rained bullets on their Tata Sumo vehicle thinking it to be carrying an alleged criminal, Dilip Singh, and his accomplices. It was later found that the vehicle occupants were innocent persons returning from Muzaffarpur to Manjhaul after a marriage negotiation.
The decision to institute an FIR with SDPO Mahto as the main accused, taken by district magistrate (DM) K P Ramaiah and superintendent of police (SP) Rajesh Chandra, followed a public outcry in the area against the incident.
Irate people blocked the road with the dead bodies on Tuesday, demanding immediate suspension and arrest of the policemen involved in the killings.
According to sources, the DM and the SP have sent a joint report to the state government on the incident. Confirming this, SP Chandra told this correspondent that probationer ASP Ganesh Kumar has been made the investigating officer of the case lodged against the Manjhaul SDPO and his bodyguards.
“The case prima facie appears to be true,� the SP said in response to a query and added that any attempt to save the guilty persons would be discouraged.
The SP’s assertion notwithstanding, the sources said, the lodging of the FIR against the SDPO and his bodyguards was preceded by institution of another case by an officer of the Manjhaul police outpost, B N Singh, against Dilip Singh and five others for opening fire at the police outpost on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, former CPI MP Shatrughan Prasad Singh, BJP leader and district board member Anjana Raghav, Samata leader Chittaranjan Singh and RJD leader Sudarshan Singh have demanded stern action against the police personnel responsible for the killing of the two innocent persons. In separate statements, these leaders also condemned the lodging of a “false� case by a police officer about firing on the police outpost on Monday evening and alleged that this was an attempt to save the skin of the policemen involved in the heinous killing of the two youths.