Bihar BJP leader dies following lathi charge' during protest march
Patna (PTI): A BJP leader in Bihar on Thursday died while taking part in a "Vidhan Sabha march" against the state's Nitish Kumar government, evoking allegations from senior party leaders that he was "killed in a brutal lathi charge".
The party's Jehanabad district general secretary Vijay Singh was brought in an unconscious state to the Patna Medical College and Hospital where he died, PMCH Superintendent Dr I S Thakur said.
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, a former state BJP president, told reporters that the death of Vijay Singh during the protest march was a "sacrificial offering".
"Besides, thousands of BJP workers have been injured, some of them seriously, while lending their voice to the state's students and youngsters. The injured include many women and members of Parliament and the state legislature", alleged Rai, who represents the Ujiyarpur Lok Sabha seat.
Officials were tight-lipped about the cause of the death of Singh, who was said to be in his 40s, though the district administration in Patna came out with a brief statement asserting that "no injury marks" were found on his body.
The statement claimed Singh was found "in an unconscious state on the roadside in Chhajju Bagh locality" from where he was taken to PMCH, the state's largest government hospital.
"He was admitted to the ICU but died during treatment," the PMCH superintendent said.
The cause of the death could not be ascertained till post-mortem examination is conducted, another PMCH official said.
Scores of BJP workers, including senior leaders like former deputy chief ministers Sushil Kumar Modi and Renu Devi, were rounded up by the police and taken to a police station after they tried to cross the barricades put up at the Dak Bungalow Crossing in the state capital.
The "Vidhan Sabha march", which was organised in support of agitations against the state government's teacher recruitment policy, commenced from the Gandhi Maidan and was stopped a couple of kilometres away from the assembly premises.
Besides batons, the police used water cannons and also took recourse to bursting tear gas shells to disperse the BJP workers who tried to breach the barricades.
Maharajganj Lok Sabha MP Janardan Singh Sigriwal, in his 60s, showed a wound on his head to journalists.
BJP president JP Nadda claimed in a tweet that the lathi charge on BJP workers is the result of the failure and indignation of the state government.
"The Mahagathbandhan government is attacking democracy to save the citadel of corruption. To save the person who has been charge-sheeted, the chief minister of Bihar has even forgotten his morality," he said.
Without naming Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, Nadda was referring to the RJD leader against whom the CBI has filed a charge sheet in the land for jobs scam.
The RJD which is part of the ruling Mahagathbandhan, however, came out with a statement mocking BJP leaders for "keeping their attention focused on getting photographed".
It also alleged that many of the protestors had hurled "chilli powder and pebbles" at the police personnel on duty.
The BJP is accusing Tejashwi Yadav of going back on the promise of "10 lakh jobs" made during the 2020 assembly elections.
Besides, the saffron party has been seeking the resignation of the young RJD leader following a fresh CBI charge sheet in the land for jobs scam.
Leader of the opposition in the assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha, who had walked out during the Question Hour after a couple of BJP MLAs were evicted by marshals for unruly behaviour, sat on a dharna outside the assembly premises during the post-lunch procession.
"I kept pleading with the police that let me allow to take part in the debate on the supplementary budget. But I was let off too late. This government is now taking recourse to sticks and bullets", Sinha alleged.
A former Speaker himself, Sinha, who has been accusing the Chair of "acting as an instrument of the government" also announced that he would now lead a "Raj Bhavan march" on Friday to apprise the Governor of the situation.
"The Governor is the custodian of the legislature. We now need to seek his protection. The government in the state is now trying to crush by force our voice which we are duty bound to raise in support of the people", alleged Sinha.
Former Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan, who is expected to join the NDA soon, also came out with a message condemning "death of an unarmed BJP worker, fighting for the rights of Biharis".
Chirag also accused Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his bete noir, of being "drunk on power".
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Death of 10 elephants in MP: Samples being sent to UP for probe; CM chairs high-level meet
Bhopal (PTI): Samples collected in connection with the death of 10 elephants in three days in Madhya Pradesh's Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve are being sent to ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Uttar Pradesh and a forensic laboratory in Sagar, officials have said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Friday chaired a high-level meeting during which the government decided to send a state minister and top forest officials to Umaria to probe the elephant deaths, they said.
Meanwhile, a senior veterinarian linked to the probe cited staffers at the reserve and said the elephants fell to the ground and shivered before dying.
On Tuesday, four wild elephants were found dead in Sankhani and Bakeli under Khitoli range of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), while four died on Wednesday and two on Thursday.
Talking to PTI on Friday over phone from the BTR, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) L Krishnamoorthy said, "We are sending all the samples we have collected from the field and also organs, like viscera, liver, kidney, etc to the IVRI in Izatnagar in UP's Bareilly as well as the MP forensic laboratory in Sagar."
He heads the five-member committee appointed by the state government to probe the death of the tuskers in Bandhavgarh, which is spread across Umaria and Katni districts in eastern Madhya Pradesh.
Krishnamoorthy had earlier said samples (viscera) of the elephants were sent to Jabalpur-based School of Wildlife Forensic and Health (SWFH) to find out toxins, if any, and the cause of death.
He was responding to a query on whether the elephants had consumed poisonous pesticides sprayed in the field.
"Only after the reports come in we can arrive at a conclusion on the cause of the death. Post mortem reports suspect it could be due to Kodo millets," MP Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF-Wildlife) VKN Ambade told PTI.
Citing staffers at the BTR, a senior veterinarian said the pachyderms fell to the ground and shivered before dying.
A ground duty officer said the forest department has identified six farmers from whose field the jumbos ate kodo millets, adding reports will clarify if any pesticide was mixed or sprayed on the crop.
Meanwhile, a five-member team of Delhi-based Wildlife Crime Control Bureau continued their probe into the deaths on the second day on Friday.
Officials said the Nagpur-based regional officer of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, assistant inspector general of forests Nandkishore Kale, continued his investigations at the BTR.
"The state tiger strike force also visited nearby agricultural lands, paddy fields, water bodies etc in connection with the kodo millets. All the dead elephants were part of a herd of 13. One of the dead elephants was male. The remaining three in the herd are healthy. They are being monitored," another official said.
Krishnamoorthy earlier said veterinarians had suggested chances of (presence of) mycotoxins associated with kodo millets.
Mycotoxins generate cyclopiazonic acid that causes poisoning in kodo millets, he said.
The forest department's wildlife veterinarians are consulting experts of Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) Bareilly, Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun, State Forensic Science Laboratory, Sagar, and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad to get details about the mycotoxins, he said.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) and special task force are investigating the case from all angles, the official added.
The Krishnamoorthy-led panel has been asked to submit its report in 10 days.
Some wildlife experts said it may be the first instance in the country when 10 elephants have died in a span of three days.
Talking about the meeting chaired by CM Yadav, an official said, "The government has decided to send minister of state for forests Dileep Ahirwar, additional chief secretary (forest) Ashok Barnwal and the state's head of forest force (HOFF) Aseem Shrivastava to Umaria district to probe the elephant deaths. They will submit their report in 24 hours."
"Strict action will be taken against the guilty. The meeting was also attended by state chief secretary Anurag Jain and Rajesh Rajora, additional chief secretary to the chief minister," he added.
