PATNA: Police resorted to baton charge to disperse a mob of flood victims indulged in putting up road blockade, stone pelting and arson in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Friday. The authorities, however, denied the report of police firing and said that only a mild force was used to bring the situation under control.The incident took place near Gopalpur village under the Bedaul police outpost when a group of flood victims put up road blockade and indulged in arson on the National Highway 77 connecting Sitamarhi with Muzaffarpur. The flood victims were irked over closure of community kitchen, which was started by the district administration soon after the victims were evacuated to safer places.The road blockade led to traffic jam on the busy road. A police team attached to the Bedaul police outpost rushed to the spot to remove the blockade. Initially, the police tried to convince the protestors but in vain. The situation, however, turned worse when police used force to lift the road blockade. The protestors later pelted stones at the police team, which had to retreat to save their lives.Additional reinforcement was requisitioned from the district headquarters as the situation was going out of control. The protestors were not in a mood to relent. The police resorted to lathicharge and opened four rounds in the air to disperse the unruly mob. Though nobody was injured in the police firing, a police officer sustained injuries in the stone pelting.Vidya Sagar, superintendent of police (SP), rural, Muzaffarpur, said that the police resorted to baton charge to quell the protestors indulging in stone pelting, road blockade and arson. “Now the situation is under control. An additional police force has been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure,” he told this newspaper over phone.
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