Darbhanga beheading a case of personal enmity, has nothing to do with PM Modi: Police

Son of the victim (ANI photo)

DARBHANGA: A day after a 65-year-old man was beheaded by a mob in Bihar's Darbhanga district for naming a square after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, police on Saturday claimed that the murder was the fallout of a 'personal enmity' and it has no connection with the Prime Minister.

"It was due to an old land dispute and has no connection the ith naming of chowk, they named their private land as Narendra Modi Chowk. Batons were used to injure the deceased's son. There is no tension in the village," said Satya Veer Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).

It was due to an old land dispute & has no connection with naming of chowk, they named their private land as Narendra Modi Chowk. Batons were used to injure the deceased's son. There is no tension in the village: Satya Veer Singh, SSP on killing of man in Darbhanga #Bihar pic.twitter.com/7g9Chgw21J

— ANI (@ANI) March 17, 2018

With tension prevailing in the area, top leaders of Bihar's prominent political parties including Union Minister Giriraj Singh and Nityanand Rai, will arrive in Darbhanga to meet the family of the victim.

A large number of policemen have been deployed in in the area, however, police said that there is no tension prevailing in the village.

The 65-year-old man was hacked to death allegedly over a tiff over the naming of a square on the outskirts of the city after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Police, however, said that the chowk he named was his family's private land.

The victim was the father of a BJP worker, Kamlesh Yadav, who also sustained injured in the attack.

Kamlesh Yadav, who was undergoing treatment at a hospital, told reporters "a chowk (square) at our native village of Bhadavan in Sadar police station area had been named after Narendra Modi two years ago".

"Yesterday, local RJD supporters, who had been opposed to the naming of the square after Modi, tried to remove the plaque bearing the name of the square. When we protested, they said that the RJD's victory in bypolls to one Lok Sabha and an assembly seat marked their party's resurgence and hence they wanted to rename the square after Lalu Prasad", Yadav had alleged.

"The RJD supporters went away after we resolutely opposed them. However, in the night, a group of 20-25 persons came to hour house riding on motorcycles, attacked my father with a sword, severing his head", Yadav, whose arm was slashed by a sword carried by the assailants, had said.

Additional SP, Darbhanga, Dilnawaz Ahmad, said "as per our information, the attackers had some personal enmity with Kamlesh Yadav and his family. We are not aware of any dispute over the naming of the square, though all angles would be investigated".

Local BJP workers in the district also staged a demonstration in protest against the killing, blocking road traffic for close to an hour. 

They were pacified by the police who assured them of adequate action against the guilty.

The incident took place on Thursday, March 15.

More than 40 people, armed with hockey stick and swords and riding bikes, attacked Ramchandra Yadav and his elder son Kamal Yadav. Ramchandra was later beheaded by a sword.