Express News Service
PATNA: A functionary of Bajrang Dal was among eight people who surrendered before police on Saturday in cases related to communal violence in Biharsharif in Nalanda district during the Ram Navami procession on March 30.
Kundan Kumar, district convenor of Bajrang Dal in Nalanda district, surrendered hours before police initiated the process of attachment of property at his house on Saturday morning.
He was subsequently quizzed by senior police officials. Kundan, however, told media persons that he had been booked as he was the organiser of the Ram Navami procession.
“I had already submitted a petition seeking permission from the local district authority,” he claimed. He blamed the police for disturbances during the procession.
“Had they made adequate security arrangements, the incident would have been averted. It’s sheer lapses on the part of the police. I have full faith in the judiciary, which will deliver justice,” he added.
Another accused identified as Pappu Miyan surrendered before Forbesganj police in the Araria district. He was being interrogated by senior police officials.
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He will be brought to Biharsharif after interrogation, a senior police officer associated with the investigation said. Nalanda superintendent of police Ashok Mishra said that eight out of nine named accused in the case have surrendered and raids were on to arrest the remaining one.
“We hope the ninth accused will also surrender in a day or two,” he added.
Meanwhile, normalcy has returned to both Biharsharif and Sasaram where incidents of stone pelting, arson and firing had put life out of gear. Internet services were restored on Saturday.
Shops and business establishments also opened. People belonging to minority communities offered ‘namaz’ at respective mosques.
“No untoward incident has been reported from trouble-torn areas of Nalanda and Rohtas districts,” addition director general of police J S Gangwar said.
One person had died and several others were injured in stone pelting, firing and arson in Biharsharif as a procession was attacked by members of another community. A youth who had suffered injuries in the Sasaram incident later succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Varanasi in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.