Man dies in Bengal in police firing

KOLKATA - A man was killed and another injured in firing by security forces in West Bengal’s Purulia district early Friday, triggering protests and a 12-hour shutdown in the area, officials said.

Bikas Mishra was killed and Ganesh Kar Gupta injured when a security picket opened fire after the duo did not stop their vehicle at a checkpost in Chawkbazar area. The two were residents of Bokaro in Bankura.

“Troopers of the Nagaland Indian Reserve Battalion (NIRB) were patrolling around 1.30 a.m. and when the vehicle flouted orders, the security personnel opened fire. One person died and one was injured,” Purulia Superintendent of Police Rajesh Yadav said.

Two companies of NIRB troopers have been deployed in and around Ayodhya Hills of Purulia district to flush out Maoists from the area which has been identified as Maoist-hit.

“As the two persons were travelling during night and refused to stop their vehicle even after being directed to, the NIRB personnel suspected them to be miscreants or Maoists and opened fire,” Yadav said.

However, the local people challenge the official version of the incident. They allege that there were three people in the vehicle and the incident took place around 9.30 p.m. Besides, the NIRB personnel did not ask them to stop.

The travellers, the local people say, were going to Tatanagar in Jharkhand, when the NIRB personnel indiscriminately fired at them. They also alleged that the NIRB personnel “are carrying out atrocities on the common people and even misbehaving with the women”.

The local people of Balarampur area of the district have called a 12-hour shutdown to protest against the alleged police atrocities.