Criminals demand Rs 50 lakh from Rice Mill owner in Saharsa

B N Singh Pappan

Saharsa : The collapse of law and order in Saharsa district was evident again on April 18, 2017, when criminals opened fire outside the gate of Janata Rice Mill located at village Araha under Saur Bazaar police station and demanded a `Rangdari’ (extortion amount) of Rs 50 lakh from its owner Rajesh Kumar Sah within two days failing which all the members of the family would be eliminated.. The criminals had also opened fire at the gate of the Mill on April 16, 2017.

Rajesh Sah has lodged an FIR with Saur Bazaar police station in this connection seeking protection for himself and family members. The locals blocked traffic on Saur Bazaar – Baijnathpur Chowk main road to register their protest against spurt in crime in the district. They lifted the blockade after security was provided to Rice Mill owner Rajesh Sah. The SHO, Saur Bazaar police station, said that the criminal had been identified and raids were on to arrest them.

A Saharsa Civil Court lawyer Vikas Chanra Jha too recently received an extortion demand from Saharsa divisional jail with the caller asking him to send the extortion amount at jail gate. Jha has also lodged an FIR with  Sadar police station, Saharsa, in this connection. An extortion of Rs 5 lakh, on the other hand, was demanded recently from Mukhia of Dhabouli west panchayat under Patarghat police station Nawal Kishore Chaudhary. Sources said that Navin Yadav gang had unleashed terror under Sonbersa police station in the district.