Enough, town explodes

Ritesh went and filed a FIR naming the criminals. Thapa was arrested. A week later, Ritesh was shot dead outside his shop in Kalyani Chowk at the heart of the town. He tried to overpower the criminals but they escaped after exploding bombs.

‘‘We took him to one doctor who said he was dead. We tried three more but finally had to accept the truth,’’ said father Madan Lal. ‘‘We never had any problems before.’’

Five policemen were present at the spot, but when the first shot was fired they fled. They have been suspended.

More than the family, it’s the business community which is angry. On Saturday, they surrounded the town police station as thousands hit the streets in protest. Even today, some businessmen took to the streets and forced those who had opened their shops to close.

‘‘The boy had the courage to file an FIR. I know many businessmen who are getting extortion calls ranging from Rs 1-5 lakh but they are keeping quiet out of fear. This boy refused to be cowed down,’’ said Hanuman Bothra, president of the North Bihar Chamber of Commerce, which gave the bandh call today.

‘‘For the last one month the situation has gone worse. Attacks on businessmen have increased and the number of kidnappings have gone up,’’ he added.

Gangs targeting businessmen are not new here. Puroshottam Lal, a jeweller, was kidnapped 23 days ago. Police still have no leads. A spate of crimes in the last two months has raised questions about the role of the police.

On September 17, a mukhiya was killed in Maniarpur in police firing after a scuffle between the cops and the villagers. A police party had gone to arrest a criminal but he jumped off the roof of a house and died. For days, Muzaffarpur talked of the incident convinced that the police had beaten the criminal to death.

‘‘People are seething with anger over a couple of incidents. Police should have acted in the Ritesh case. But we took prompt action and five personnel were suspended,’’ said Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Amit Lal Meena.

The last time the town exploded was when nine-year-old Golu was kidnapped and killed. Riots had broken out and the SP, ASP and DM were transferred.

‘‘For a whole year, Muzaffarpur town has been quiet but extortion calls are back,’’ said Meena. Retired engineer Mahendra Choudhary, who was kidnapped from Patna, was taken to Muzaffarpur. Rs 1 crore was demanded as ransom. He was subsequently rescued. A trader’s son was kidnapped and kept in Muzaffarpur, police said.

‘‘The gangs are operating with political backing. There is no way they can become so powerful. Some people are in jail, and they become MLAs and control operations from there. They should all be arrested,’’ said Muzaffarpur MLA Vijender Choudhary.