Bhagalpur: At least five policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), were injured on Saturday after an angry mob attacked a police team that was trying to settle a brawl during Holi celebrations in Bihar’s Bhagalpur area.
A day earlier, an ASI was allegedly killed by a mob while investigating a disturbance caused by a group of drunk men in a village in Munger district, where alcohol is prohibited.
On Saturday evening, the police team, led by ASI Dharnath Roy, had intervened in a brawl between two groups in Kasrhi village, under the jurisdiction of the Antichak police station, when a mob of men, women, and children started pelting stones at the cops and police vehicles, sub divisional police officer (SDPO) Kalyan Anand said.
A video of the incident was later circulated on social media.
“The stone pelting was so intense that it forced the police to flee. The injured policemen are undergoing treatment at the Kahalgaon sub-divisional hospital,” a police officer said, adding that a police vehicle was damaged in the attack.
Five people were arrested after an FIR was registered based on the complaint filed by the magistrate who was deputed at the site, Anand said.
“The situation is under control and peaceful. Raids are being carried out to arrest all those involved in the attack on policemen,” Anand added.
In the past week, two ASIs were killed in attacks on police teams in Araria and Munger, respectively.
“Policemen are being targeted by the liquor mafia out of frustration, as the raids against them have intensified in recent months. The liquor mafia has resurfaced in Bihar, a dry state since 2016, when the government passed a law making the sale, consumption, and transport of liquor punishable. The incidents during Holi suggest that liquor smuggling in dry Bihar is still rampant,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.