A police team that went to arrest a man in Bihar’s Darbhanga district was allegedly attacked by the accused’s family and other locals on Saturday, leading to massive clashes between them. The incident took place in the Laheriyasarai area when the family of the accused, Jitendra Yadav – who was reportedly an accused in a dowry case – tried to free him from the arrest.

A video of the incident shows a large group of mob throwing stones at the police officials and trying to snatch their guns. They also tried to block the main road by burning tyres to prevent the police from reaching the accused’s house.

Three officials, including two sub-inspectors and a constable, were injured in the incident. They have been taken to a hospital for treatment.

“The incident took place in the Abhanda area under the jurisdiction of Laheriasarai police station when a police team went to arrest a person against whom a warrant was issued by a court. The family members of the accused and other locals suddenly attacked the police team… they also forcibly freed the accused,” Darbhanga (Sadar) Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Amit Kumar, said.

According to the police, a team of additional security personnel was sent to the area to stop the attack and disperse the crowd.

“The locals tried pushing children in the crowd…so we did not fire back at them much. They pelted stones at the security personnel. However, the situation was brought under control after mild use of force,” Kumar said.

The police have detained five people, including the man against whom the arrest warrant was issued.

A case has been registered and the matter is being further investigated, officials said.

Patna:

Bonhomie was on display at an event in Darbhanga on Wednesday when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar bent down to touch the feet of Narendra Modi, only to be stopped by the Prime Minister, who shook his hands instead.

Having won 12 seats, Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal United is the third largest partner in the National Democratic Alliance (fold) in terms of Lok Sabha constituencies. The party and Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party played a key role in ensuring that Narendra Modi became Prime Minister for the third time after the BJP failed to secure a majority on its own for the first time in 10 years. 

A video from the event shows Mr Kumar, who is 73, bending down and attempting to touch the feet of PM Modi, who is a year older than him, on a dais. The PM immediately gets up, holds the chief minister’s arms and shakes his hands. Mr Kumar then sits next to the PM.

This is not the first time that Mr Kumar, who returned to the NDA fold after breaking away from the INDIA and Mahagathbandhan alliances earlier this year, has tried to touch the feet of PM Modi. He had done so during a meeting after the Lok Sabha results in June as well. 

At the event, where he laid the foundation for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and inaugurated infrastructure projects worth Rs 12,100 crore, PM Modi praised the Bihar chief minister and said he had ensured the state emerged from “jungle raj”.

“Nitish ji has set up a model of good governance (‘sushasan’), pulling the state out of the era of jungle raj. No praise is too high for this achievement,” the PM said.

“Bihar is witnessing a lot of development. The NDA government is committed to the welfare of the people. The previous government in Bihar didn’t bother about health infrastructure. They made false promises, but the situation has improved since Nitish Kumar ji came to power,” he added.