Saharsa bandh against hooliganism

SAHARSA: The entire market wore a deserted look as the traders downed their shutters on Tuesday in protest against the alleged hooliganism resorted to by an angry group of local youths going on rampage on Monday evening.
According to sources, a mason, Mohd Mobarak was crushed to death by a speeding vehicle near Islamia chowk here on Monday evening. A mob of local youths blocked the road traffic by laying the body on the main road and rushed menacingly towards the main market to forcibly close the shops and business establishments.When resisted by some traders, the angry mob went berserk, damaging some of the shops and injuring some of the shopkeepers in Gangjala Chowk and DB Road markets.
Taking strong exception to the alleged chaotic situation and failure of the police in curbing such hooliganism, the traders went on strike shutting their own shops.
The police patrolling has been intensified in the main market and the SP has assured to take suitable steps for the arrest of the rampaging youths.
The traders are also sore over the police failure in arresting the lone accused who is alleged to have brutally killed a young man, Raju Sharma, in broad daylight at Dahlan Chowk on Sunday evening. The sudden spurt in crime as raised an alarm in the district headquarter.
Seemanchal council sought: The two-day workers camp of Seemakhand Vikas Parishad, organised here on Saturday and Sunday, held the Union and the state government responsible for the economic backwardness of 16 bordering districts of Bihar and demanded an autonomous Seemakhand council.
Parishad president Shankar Azad, general secretary Prabhat Kumar and Ajay Purvey, while talking to newsmen after the conclusion of the camp, stressed on the need of people’s participation in national planning and said that the development schemes imposed from above have failed to deliver goods to the people and hence the process should now be reversed. Suitable mechanism should be developed so as to ascertain the requirements of the villages and then frame the policies, they added.
Purvey opposed Union government’s proposal to link up all the rivers in the country and said that it was nothing but an eyewash and an instrument of largescale loot of public money. He also opposed the idea of constructing high dams in the territory of other countries and warned that the Himalayan range, being a seismic zone, would perpetually be threatened by earthquakes and thus imminent danger of flood would keep lurking over people’s head.
Azad did not favour the demand of a separate state but he warned that the growing disillusionment of the people and the continuing apathy of the public representatives may take any turn in future.
Chandan Kumar Bagchi, the Koshi division council general secretary and organiser of the camp, said that in near future all border-points would be sealed and traffic paralysed in all the districts along Nepal and Bangladesh borders if the demands of the council are not conceded.