Two Bihar cops injured in attack by accused in East Champaran: Police

BETTIAH: Two policemen including a sub-inspector who went to recover a girl abducted in East Champaran district on October 26 sustained injuries after they came under attack by a group of villagers, police said on Friday.

Police said the attack, captured on a mobile phone by a villager, shows the two being attacked by a small group of villagers led by the suspect. Sub inspector Sonu Kumar who pulled out his service firearm to scare his attackers, suffered head injuries after the accused attack him with a wooden stick and a shovel.

The village watchman Munna Kumar Paswan, who accompanied the police officer, also sustained serious injuries.

In the video which emerged on social media, some local residents are also seen tying a piece of cloth over the officer’s head wound. HT cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video clip.

Police said the team was acting on a complaint of two cousins being abducted in an area under the district’s Paharpur police station on October 26. A police team recovered one of the two girls from Bettiah in the adjoining district of West Champaran and later in the evening carried out a second raid.

“On the inputs of the recovered girl, the police had gone to Sareya Lipani village in East Siswa Panchayat to recover the second girl, where some people along with the family members of the accused went after the police team,” a police officer said.

East Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Swarn Prabhat expressed displeasure over the arrest of only one accused, identified as Anita Devi, in the case. He said a show cause notice has been issued to the station house officer of Paharpur police station for his failure to arrest the accused within 24 hours.

A special investigation team has been formed to arrest the attackers and a reward of ₹5,000 each was announced for the arrest of the absconding attackers, he added.

A police statement on Friday said a first information report (FIR) has been registered against seven persons for the attack on the officer apart from 10-15 unidentified people who helped them.