SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, June 3: Giridih police resorted to lathi-charge to clear the Kolkata- Delhi Grand Trunk Road (NH-2) which was blocked by supporters of a defeated candidate of the District Board poll near Atka under Bagodar police station, around 65 km away from district headquarters on Thursday night.
After eight and half hours of GT Road blockade by the agitators, police had to resort to lathi-charge at 10 pm on Thursday.
When the police reached to talk about lifting the blockade, the agitators began pelting stones at them. Three rounds of bullets were also fired in the air by the agitators. An eyewitness said that the police also fired in the air, though officials did not confirm it.
Over a dozen agitators and police personnel including Bagodar Inspector Vinay Singh were injured in the incident. 50 agitators were taken into custody by police on the spot for blocking the road and creating trouble.
Police said that after around 2.30 pm, as the election result was announced, the supporters of Shatrughan Mandal, who lost the election by 13 votes on District Board seat no. 28 to Durgesh Kumar, blocked the highway demanding recounting of votes. Shatrughan Mandal is said to be a BJP supporter.
On seeing the long line of inter-state vehicles on both sides of the road, at around 10 pm, Bagodar police along with different police station officers reached the spot and requested the agitators to clear the road.
After an altercation, the agitators began pelting stones at the police who then resorted to lathi-charge and dispersed them from the road.
Giridih Superintendent of Police Amit Renu also reached the spot and monitored the situation late at night.
After the incident, SDPO Naushad Alam, Bagodar police station officer in-charge Nitish Kumar along with a heavy police force began camping on the spot.
The SDPO told media persons that the agitators were carrying arms and fired in the air. “Police are interrogating the villagers to identify the persons possessing the arms during the blockade,” he said.
