Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has said the beheading of a man by some unidentified men in Darbhanga was a “case of dand dispute”.
While it was alleged that 65-year-old Ramchandra Yadav, father of local BJP worker Kamlesh Yadav, was murdered due to a tiff over the naming of a square on the outskirts of the town after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the police had said it was the fallout of a “personal enmity”.
Kamlesh, who also sustained in juries in the attack and is undergoing treatment at a hospital, had told reporters Friday “a chowk (square) at our native village of Bhagavan in Sadar police station area had been named after Narendra Modi two years ago”.
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“On Thursday, local RJD supporters, who had been opposed to naming of the square after Modi, tried to remove the plaque bearing the name of the square. When we protested, they said that the RJD’s victory in bypolls to one Lok Sabha and an assembly seat marked their party’s resurgence and hence they wanted to rename the square after Lalu Prasad,” Kamlesh alleged.
“The RJD supporters went away after we resolutely opposed them. However, in the night, a group of 20-25 persons came to hour house riding on motorcycles, attacked my father with a sword, severing his head”, said Kamlesh, whose arm was slashed by a sword carried by the assailants.
Sushil Kumar Modi, however, said on social media the murder had “nothing to do with board”. “Totally false that murder in Darbhanga cose of naming Modi http://Chawk.Case of land dispute.Board was put long back,Murder has nothing to do with Board,” he tweeted from his official handle.
Totally false that murder in Darbhanga cose of naming Modi https://t.co/Vzjoj6xJaW of land dispute.Board was put long back,Murder has nothing to do with Board.
— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) March 16, 2018
The police had said they were not aware of any dispute over naming of the square. “As per our information, the attackers had some personal enmity with Kamlesh Yadav and his family. We are not aware of any dispute over naming of the square, though all angles would be investigated,” PTI quoted Additional SP, Darbhanga, Dilnawaz Ahmad as saying.
Local BJP workers in the district staged a demonstration in protest against the killing, blocking road traffic for close to an hour. They were pacified by the police who assured them of adequate action against the guilty.
(With agencies)