Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara :Tension prevails in and around Kamaluchak, Rajapur, diara areas ( riverine belt) under Koelwar police station (PS) in Bhojpur District in South Bihar after exchange of fire between two groups for supremacy at the Sand ghats in which two persons including an employee of a private bank were killed on January 21, 2022.
ASP Himanshu along with posse of police force rushed to the spot. Police recovered the bodies and brought them over to Ara Sadar Hospital for post-mortem. An FIR has been lodged withKoelwar police station (PS) in this connection. Police have arrested two persons so far and are investigating matter and conducting raids to arrest the remaining miscreants.
The deceased were identified as Durgesh, 34, son of Khedu of Belbhara village under Maharajganj PS in Kamhariya Kala District in Uttar Pradesh, and Sanjeet Kumar, 40, son of Jagpati Narayan Sharma of Naubatpur under the same police station in Patna District. Durgesh was an employee at Mannapuram Bank near Judge Kothi under Nawada PS, Ara, while Sanjeet Kumar, Munshi, lived in a rented house at Ramnagar Chandawa Housing Colony under Nawada PS.
Deepak Singh, friend of the deceased, said that their partner Kameshwar Rai had got a tender for sand mining at Kamaluchak sand ghat situated at Rajapur diara village under Koelwar PS and rituals was going on for the inauguration of the sand ghat. Meanwhile, about 50 persons of another group came and started firing indiscriminately causimg stampede. In the melee, two persons received bullets and were killed on the spot. Later, some persons reached Koelwar PS and informed police about the incident.
Bhojpur SP Vinay Tiwari said that illegal mining of sand is prima facie reason behind the incident and added that both the deceased belonged to the same group and police are trying to detect persons involved in firing. Police also recovered six blank cartridges of rifle and pistols from the site He said that a clash between Satyendra Pandey and Videshi Rai groups was going on for quite long to establish their supremacy over sand ghats and illegal mining of sand in the area though Santyendra Pandey is, at present, in Ara jail.
It may be mentioned here that clash between rival groups is common in Bindagawa, Kamaluchak, Rajapur, Pachrukhia, Mahadevchak, Semaria areas on the bank of river Sone under Koelwar and Barhara police station in Bhojpur District over sand mining. It is said that over a dozen groups are active in Bhojpur District that challenge police administration frequently.