SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 2: The MP MLA special court of Dhanbad on Wednesday framed charges against senior Congress leader and former fisheries and animal husbandry minister Mannan Mallick, former urban development minister Bachha Singh and 26 others in an 11 years old Matkuria firing incident.
Public prosecutor Md Jabbad Hussain framed charges against the 28 accused in the MP MLA special court of Akhilesh Kumar Tiwari for attacking the police force, creating a disturbance in government work, damaging property, Arms Act, murder conspiracy and murder of Vikash Singh.
The court ordered for producing witnesses of the case.
However, Mannan Mallick, Bachha Singh and other accused, who were present in the court, denied the charge and demanded hearing the case.
The FIR was registered by the then Dhanbad SDM George Kumar on April 27, 2011, in the wake of the Matkuria firing incident. After investigation, the police framed charges against 38 persons.
Two accused senior Congress leaders- former minister OP Lal and former deputy mayor Neeraj Singh have died.
The special court on February 10, 2022, had ordered the physical presence of all the accused today (March 2) for hearing.
In the Matkuria firing incident on April 27, 2022, four persons died in a bloody clash between police and agitators when forces had gone to evacuate quarters of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) from encroachment.
The then superintendent of police (SP) RK Dhan was also injured in the clash. Mannan Mallick, Bachha Singh, and other leaders had opposed the evacuation drive and protested.
Bachha Singh told media persons that police had killed four persons and framed charges on us. “We have full faith in the court for justice,” he said.
Mannan Mallick said that under the pressure of the Arjun Munda led BJP government, a false case was lodged against them.
Senior advocate Dilip Singh, Arun Kumar Singh, Anjani Kumar Jha appeared in defence of the accused.
