NEW DELHI, 4 July 2004 — Twelve people were killed and several injured in Bihar’s Nawada district early yesterday when several armed men belonging to the notorious Akhilesh Singh gang raided a low-caste village.
Ten people died on the spot while two others succumbed to their injuries on the way to Nawada Sadar Hospital, where the injured are being treated.
The attack is believed to come in retaliation for the killing of two children allegedly by a rival gang on Friday.
Agitated villagers yesterday would not let police take the bodies away for forensic examination, demanding that Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad come to the village.
They also demanded payment of 100,000 rupees and government jobs for the next of kin of those killed.
The Ashok Mahto, blamed for the children’s deaths, and the Akhilesh Singh gangs have been locked in a bloody feud for several years.
Akhilesh is the jailed husband of Warsaliganj legislator Aruna Devi, who recently joined Ramvilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party.
Police reinforcements have been sent to the area, with raids under way to flush out those responsible. No arrests have so far been made.
Meanwhile, Janata Dal-United MP Prabhunath Singh, who was wanted in Bihar in connection with the kidnapping and murder of four CPI-M (Liberation) workers, has surrendered.
Prabhunath surrendered yesterday before the chief judicial magistrate’s court in Patna and applied for bail after submitting a Supreme Court order of June 28 staying his arrest for three weeks.
The prosecution says the stay covered only the arrest warrant but had nothing to say about bail. The case has been adjourned until July 20.
Prabhunath and three others were charged with abduction and murder of four CPI-ML workers who had come to attend a party meeting at Masarakh in Saran district in 2000.
Prabhunath was elected from Maharajganj seat for a third consecutive term in the April-May parliamentary election.
