Police shoot dead two men after tiff in Patna temple

Tuesday, 13 June 2006

Patna:

Two young men were shot dead by police in a temple in Patna after a reported tiff during a marriage ceremony, triggering angry reactions from locals over the unprovoked killing.

According to witnesses, the police were in an inebriated condition when they shot dead Manoj Kumar, the brother of the bride, after a heated exchange and another man who came to intervene in the dispute at the Sitla temple in the Agamkuan area here late Monday.

Manoj and his friends had apparently invited the wrath of the police for daring to question their highhandedness and behaviour. He was shot dead just before the final rituals of his sister's wedding.

"Both were killed like dreaded criminals. They were innocent youths," said Manoj's father.

Family members, relatives and witnesses told IANS that the four policemen on duty at the temple were drunk. "They were so drunk that they opened fire and killed the two young men as they would criminals - one after another in a span of a few minutes - for no fault," said Sunil Kumar, a witness.

Soon after the incident, people in large numbers gathered at the temple, blocked the roads and shouted slogans against the police and the administration. "There has been tension in the area since late Monday, but it is under control.

Police are investigating the case," said a police official.The angry people said they would protest again Tuesday. They allege that police were trying to hush up the case and give it a different colour to suppress the facts. Police officials told the people that the killing was the result of a clash between two gangs. The four policemen involved in the killing have been taken into custody and lodged in the Alamganj police station, police said.

The district administration is yet to order a probe into the killing.