Mahadalits’ houses burned in Lakhisarai

MUNGER: Tension prevails in and around Mahmadpur village under Surajgarha police station area of Lakhisarai district after antisocial elements on Tuesday burned at least seven hutments of Mahadalit families.
Lakhisarai DM Manoj Kumar Singh said a section of armed forces has been deployed in the village to prevent any fresh untoward incident. Besides this, Surajgarha police station has been directed to ensure round-the-clock police patrolling around the trouble-torn village at the interval of every hour, DM said, adding the situation is under control.
Lalan Das, Niranjan Das, Vinod Das and Pramod Das are among the people whose hutments were burned to ashes. Lalan informed a visiting team of newsmen that antisocial elements reached their locality and set their shanties on fire following a tiff on the issue related to forcible occupation of Mahadalits’ land in the village.
Lakhisarai SP Ashok Kumar, however, said that quick action by the Lakhisarai police averted a big carnage at the Mahadalit colony in the village. The SP said the situation had been tense since last night itself when some portions of the boundarywall of Guddu Singh and Dinesh Singh, residents of same village, were found to be damaged completely. It was alleged that members of Mahadalit family damaged the wall and in retaliation, at least seven hutments of the Mahadalits were reduced to ashes.
However, the SP said the deputy collector land reforms (DCLR), Lakhisarai, along with the Surajgarha circle officer have been assigned the task to do the needful by measuring the lands in presence of both the warring groups and settle the matter forever by the district administration as per rule.
The SP further said the police rushed there and immediately convened a meeting of the members of both the warring communities. The circle officer was also summoned there and after hearing the statements of both sides, it was decided that measurement of the lands awarded to the members of the Mahadalit community by the administration will be done by circle amin and necessary steps will be taken in the matter to end the dispute.
Surajgarha police station SHO Ram Niwas Kumar said a few agitated women threw ‘Kachiya’ (a sharp weapon) towards the policemen who rushed there and were making inquiries at the spot on Tuesday but no one injured in the incident.