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Bloodbath at midnight

Blood-stained earth and the heart-rending wails of women and children greet visitors to Lakshmanpur-Bathe village in Jehanabad district where the Ranvir Sena massacred 61 people on Monday night.

Mostly farm labourers, the victims included 19 children of whom five were less than three years old. The village, on the banks of the Sone river, dividing Bhojpur and Jehanabad, is inhabited by 50 dalit families who live below the poverty line.

The villagers were unaware of the killers who surrounded their homes and started firing indiscriminately.

Moti Choudhury, along with nine members of his family, tried to protect a two-year-old infant by making a human shield. All of them died. So did the entire family of Sikander Chowdhury. Seven members of his family tried to save themselves by locking themselves in a room, but the killers broke open the door and mowed them down in cold blood.

Sixty-year-old Ramchela Paswan was fortunate. He saved himself by hiding in a corner though seven members of his family were brutally gunned down.

Paswan said he and his family woke up to the sound of gunshots. They tried to flee, but when they realised they were surrounded, seven of them took shelter in a room while Paswan hid in a dark corner. ''They were killed before my eyes,'' he said.

Surendra Rajwar, too, has lost his entire family. He survived because he was out of the village when the massacre occurred.

No one in his village, Rajwar said, had anything to do with any political group. ''We hardly have any spare time as we survive on daily wages.''

A few villagers, who survived the bloodbath, said the killers shouted pro-Sena slogans. They said the village, which owed allegiance to Party Unity one year ago, had now shifted towards the CPI-ML after the murder of PU leader Chapit Ram. The PU had alleged that the CPI-ML was behind Chapit Ram's murder.

On December 30 last year, CPI-ML supporters, mostly from the villlage, took part in a demonstration at the nearby Kamta village, said to be a Sena bastion.

The demonstrators were protesting against the harvesting of government land near Dhankabigha village. Later, an amicable solution was reached and both Laxmanpur-Bathe and Kamta were given half the crop each.

This year, however, the CPI-ML has been adamant and announced that it would not allow anyone from Kamta village to harvest the crops. Following the feud, tension had prevailed in the area.

Police sources said they have launched a massive combing operation to nab a youth from Kamta village who was staying at Ramshyar Paswan's home on Monday night. The youth has been missing since the incident. Though the Sena kidnapped two of Paswan's sons and his daughter-in-law, not a single bullet was fired at his home.

District magistrate Arun Kumar Singh said the extremists came from the nearby Sahar and Sandesh blocks of Bhojpur district. Five fishermen, who helped the extremists to cross the Sone river, were later shot dead by the extremists.

Some villagers reported the incident to the Mahandia police station, which is about 10 km from the carnage site, at around 0600 hours yesterday. The police reached the spot at around 0900 hours.

Camping at the site, Director General of Police S K Saxena said the 25-year-old problem cannot be solved within a year. ''But efforts are on to tackle the problem. Additional central forces had been sought.'' Saxena said a massive combing operation had been launched in Jehanabad district.

UNI

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