Three more injured in Bihar police firing

Three more people were injured Saturday when police opened fire to control an irate mob as it went on rampage for the second consecutive day in Bihar's district headquarters town of Madhubani.

Two youths were killed after being hit by bullets and over a dozen people were injured Friday during a clash with police in Madhubani town, around 170 km from here. A police station and several vehicles were torched by the protesters, police said.

The protest resumed in the town early Saturday with violent mobs setting afire the block office building, another police station and several vehicles parked there. They also ransacked a railway station and attacked government properties at several places, an official said.

"Protesters pelted stones at police and torched the Kaluahi and Basapatti police stations and the block office building early Saturday. They also set on fire the vehicles parked there. Later, they ransacked the Jainagar railway station," a police official said.

Another group of protesters blocked roads and went on rampage in the town. "The protesters went on rampage in five blocks in the district," the police official said.

With tension gripping Madhubani town, shops, commercial establishments and educational institutions remained shut Saturday, a district official said.

All the injured have been admitted to hospital in the neighbouring Darbhanga district.

Three people, whose condition was said to be critical were shifted to the Patna Medical College and Hospital here, an official said.

The trouble in the town started after a headless body was found 11 days ago. The family members of a missing youth, Prashant Kumar, claimed that the body was his and demanded that it be handed over to them.

Hundreds of people joined them. But when police refused to give in to their demand, the mob started pelting stones and torched the collectorate building, SDM office, a police station and several vehicles parked there Friday.

Police opened fire and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the protesters, the police official said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and transferred the district magistrate and superintendent of police with immediate affect, an official said.