Mokama Clash: EC Orders Transfer Of SP (rural), Action Against Three Officers

Patna: The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday ordered the transfer of Patna Superintendent of Police (Rural) Vikram Sihag and action against three other officials, two days after a violent clash between supporters of the JD  (U) candidate Anant Singh and Jan Suraaj Party including gangster-turned-politician Dular Chand Yadav in Mokama, leaving the latter dead.

The EC had sought a report on the incident from the Bihar Director General of Police on Friday. In its instructions to the state chief electoral officer on Saturday, the EC ordered Sihag’s transfer and directed that a panel of officers to select his substitute be sent urgently.

It also ordered the replacement of Mokama sub-divisional officer-cum-returning officer Chandan Kumar, sub-divisional police officer (Barh-1) Rakesh Kumar, and SDPO (Barh-2) Abhishek Singh. The EC directed disciplinary proceedings against all three, and suspended Singh with immediate effect

'Submit Compliance Report': EC Asks CEO

The EC asked the CEO to submit a compliance report on its instructions by 12 noon on Sunday. The clash between two groups had taken place in Mokama on Thursday afternoon. Dular Chand Yadav, a 75-year-old resident of Tartar village, was found dead when the police reached the site, according to officials.

Yadav died while he was campaigning for Jan Suraaj Party's candidate Piyush Priyadarshi in Mokama area. "The reason behind Yadav's death is cardiorespiratory failure due to shock caused by injury of the heart and lungs by a hard and blunt substance," said the post mortem report, submitted to the Patna Police. The report also mentioned that Yadav was shot near the ankle joint, but the bullet wound was not the cause of his death.

Anant Singh Named Accused

Anant Singh has been named as an accused along with four others in one of the FIRs, registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the grandson of the deceased. Another FIR was lodged against six people based on a complaint filed by the Prashat Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party, while the third case was registered by the police based on its own investigation.