Manjhaul firing case accused are still at large

BEGUSARAI: Even after lapse of five days since the incident, the Begusarai police have failed to identify the three constables named as accused in the FIR lodged in connection with the killing of two innocent youths in Manjhaul. The accused were attached with Manjhaul SDPO Maheshwar Mahto as his bodyguards. The constables had opened indiscriminate firing on the occupants of a four-wheeler on December 23, presuming them to be criminals, in front of the Manjhaul police station.
The investigating officer (IO) of the case -- probationer ASP Ganesh Prasad after conducting an inquiry -- concluded that only after obtaining the report of the forensic test of the arms used in the firing incident, the identity of the accused police personnel can be ascertained.
When asked, the probationer ASP expressed his inability to disclose the names of the three constables involved in the firing, along with the SDPO, on the vehicle out of apprehension that the "criminals" might attack the police station. He further said that the arms issued to the Manjhaul police and the cartridges retrieved from the bodies of the deceased during the autopsy, have been sent to forensic laboratory for various tests to establish the identity of the police personnel involved in the killing of two youths and injury to three other occupants of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Begusarai SP Kumar Rajesh Chandra on Saturday denied allegations of the Manjhaul residents that the police are trying to save them through manipulation of statements of the people concerned, including those on the spot.
He said since the SDPO, the alleged "prime accused" in the case, is absconding, the process to obtain a court order for his arrest and attachment of his property has already been initiated. The SP also supported the statement of the IO that the identity of the accused can be established only after obtaining the forensic test report.
As for the Manjhaul residents, they are planning an agitation to mount pressure on the police to nab the accused policemen. They are also being backed by some political parties. "We are planning to block roads and organise a gherao of the sub-divisional office to protest the dilly-dallying tactics of the police to the benefit of their accused colleagues," said Samata party leader and resident of Manjhaul Chitranjan Singh.
Singh felt when prima facie it is apparent that the named constables and the SDPO were on the spot and firing indiscriminately on the vehicle, awaiting forensic test report is simply part of an "Operation Cover-up" by the authorities. Leaders of various other political parties have demanded immediate arrest of the accused.