Naxals punish Bihar speaker's aide

The thrashing of Speaker’s aide Lakhan Lal Verma took place at a kangaroo court (also called Jan Adalat) in the dense forests of Imamganj in Gaya district on Friday evening where a large number of villagers and some local mediamen, too, had assembled to hear the verdict.

Verma was abducted two days ago after one of his neighbours complained to the Naxalites that the Speaker’s associate, using his clout, had illegally captured some land while constructing his new house. Verma was produced before the Jan Adalat where senior Maoist leader Prashant Kumar conducted the trial and ordered severe thrashing.

The journalists, who arrived later, found Verma writhing in pain even as his two legs were fractured after he was mercilessly beaten up publicly. He was let off by the Naxalites after he promised to return the captured land and promised to pay compensation for the agony caused to his neighbour.

Senior SP of Gaya Amit Lodha said he was not aware of the nature of injury suffered by Verma. Incidentally, the Speaker is an elected representative from the Imamganj Assembly constituency.

The area has been prone to Naxal attacks. The worst incident was when former Gaya MP Rajesh Kumar was gunned down by the Maoists while he was campaigning in Imamganj during the 2005 elections.