Unidentified persons hacked to death the father of a BJP worker in Darbhanga allegedly over the naming of a square on the outskirts of the city after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Police, however, claimed that the murder of 65-year-old Ramchandra Yadav late Thursday, whose BJP activist son Kamlesh Yadav sustained injuries in the attack, was the fallout of a “personal enmity”.
Kamlesh Yadav, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital, told reporters: “A chowk (square) at our native village of Bhadavan in Sadar police station area had been named after Narendra Modi two years ago.”
“Yesterday, local RJD supporters, who had been opposed to naming of the square after Modi, tried to remove the plaque bearing the name of the square. When we protested, they said that the RJD’s victory in bypolls marked their party’s resurgence and so they wanted to rename the square after Lalu Prasad,” alleged Yadav.
#Darbhanga (Bihar): Around 40-50 men came on 25-30 bikes with hockey sticks & swords. My father went to them to explain the situation, but was beheaded, they also tried to kill my brother: Son of 70-yr-old man who was beheaded for naming a chowk as Narendra Modi chowk pic.twitter.com/sVS5i65GKI
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018
We reached the spot of the incident immediately & had arrested the culprits by night. We have recorded the statements of all the witnesses. In the brother's case we have recorded his statement & our investigating the matter: Dilnvaj Ahamad, DSP Darbhanga pic.twitter.com/A5gHTbRMHU
— ANI (@ANI) March 16, 2018
“The RJD supporters went away after we resolutely opposed them. However, in the night, a group of 20-25 people came to hour house riding motorcycles, attacked my father with a sword, severing his head,” said Yadav, whose arm was slashed by a sword.
Additional SP, Darbhanga, Dilnawaz Ahmad, however, said: “As per our information, the attackers had some personal enmity with Kamlesh Yadav and his family. We are not aware of any dispute over naming of the square, though all angles would be investigated.”
Local BJP workers in the district also staged a demonstration in protest against the killing, blocking road traffic for close to an hour. They were pacified by the police who assured them of adequate action against the guilty.
Meanwhile, state BJP spokesman Rajib Ranjan said over phone: “Incidents like these demonstrate the RJD’s belief in hooliganism and corruption. They have merely retained two seats they had held earlier, but they want to strike terror in the hearts of the people of Bihar.”
