Murder of a person leads to clash of communities in Abhi Chhapra village

PATNA: A Mahadalit caste person was shot dead for allegedly intruding a marriage procession of another caste and dancing at a village in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, a senior police officer said on Friday. The incident which took place in Abhi Chhapra village, that is about 30 km from Muzaffarpur town, on Wednesday night led to clashes, loot and arson.

Local reports suggested that the wedding party members, belonged to an influential other backward caste, objected to Navin Manjhi (22), who belonged to the Musahar community, intruding into the wedding procession and dancing. The groom's family filed a complaint with the police, accusing the villagers of looting and setting vehicles on fire.

The man's father complained to police that his son was killed due to old grudges.

Both the groups have filed complaints against each other. No arrest has been made so far, Saraiya Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Shankar Jha told PTI from Muzaffarpur.

His family members alleged that Mukesh Kumar, the bride's cousin, killed Manjhi, while the wedding party claimed that someone from the crowd fired at him, the SDPO said.

Manjhi died on the spot. His murder triggered clashes between members of his community and the wedding party, Jha said.

The residents of the victim's village set eight four-wheelers, eight motorcycles on fire, assaulted the groom and members of the wedding party and looted cash, jewellery, mobile phones and other valuable items.Additional force was deployed in the village to maintain peace, the SDPO said.