Eight police personnel injured, vehicles damaged in mob attack in Bihar's Nalanda

Rajgir, Jul 16 (PTI) Eight police personnel were injured and several vehicles damaged by a mob in Bihar's Nalanda district following the death of a motorcyclist in a collision with a vehicle of the force, officials said on Thursday. The motorcyclist died at 10 am on Wednesday, and the police team was attacked in the evening, they added. According to a statement issued by Nalanda police, a 22-year-old man died in the collision between his motorbike and the SUV near Cheran on the Harnaut-Belchi Road. Bihar Sharif SDPO-2 said that the SUV was taken on lease by the police department to meet policing requirements. The victim's body was handed over to his family members after post-mortem examination, and a formal FIR was registered on the basis of a written complaint submitted by his father, officials said. "Some anti-social elements blockaded the road and created commotion. The police managed to persuade the family members to withdraw the protest. However, around 7 pm, family members and other protestors created another blockade near GDM College on the Bihar Sharif-Bakhtiyarpur National Highway by placing the body on the road and parking tractors, and other vehicles across the highway," the statement read. When civil and police officials reached the spot and appealed to the protesters to lift the blockade, the crowd attacked police personnel and magistrates with stones, set tyres and other inflammable materials on fire, and damaged nearby vehicles, it added. Eight police personnel were injured in the attack. After repeated warnings failed to disperse the crowd, police had to fire tear gas shells and use mild force to restore law and order, officials said. Traffic on the highway was subsequently resumed, and the deceased's family took the body for the last rites, they added. According to the statement, an FIR has been registered based on the complaint of police officials present at the site. One person allegedly involved in the violence has been taken into custody, while efforts are underway to identify others through local inputs and video footage for further legal action, police said. PTI CORR SUK NN