Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara : Hundreds of villagers went on rampage and set ablaze jeep of the local Circle Officer (CO) on April 10, 2021, afternoon, after the death of two tractor drivers. The villager also pelted with the cops with stones when they police used force to disperse the mob in which at least two police personnel were injured.
The protesters blocked the Ara-Arwal main road near village Pawana paralysing movement of vehicles for about two hours besides raising slogans against Bhojpur District Administration. They were demanding compensation to the next of kin of the deceased and check on police highhandedness. The deceased were identified as Ajit Paswan and Vikas Paswan of village Kori under Sandesh police station in Bhojpur district.
Ajit Paswan and Vikas Paswan were carrying sand on tractor from Narayanpur sand ghat when Sandesh police chased them and tried to intercept their vehicle. Seeing police, the driver tried to escape by speeding up the vehicle. The tractor, however, overturned into a canal killing two persons including the driver on the spot. As the news of incident spread, villagers got agitated and blocked Ara-Arwal main road near village Pawana. They also pelted cops with stones when they resorted to police lathicharge in which two police personnel were injured.
When the CO, Sandesh, reached there, the villagers set ablaze his jeep. They also demanded compensation to the next of kin of the deceased. The villagers alleged that despite ban on digging and carrying of sand from sand ghat, Sand mafias are doing their business with impunity. Later, Ara SDO and SDPO along with police force rushed to the spot to control the situation. Police are camping at Pawana Bazaar.