large-scale violence marked the 12-hour Kolhan bandh call of the JMM to protest the State’s domicile policy on the day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Jamshedpur to take part in the National Panchayati Raj Day function at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Sunday.
The bandh supporters resorted to arsoning and vandalism from past midnight, posing hurdles for commuters on the State highways. In a shocking incident the bandh supporters set a passenger bus on fire at Mosabani block office in Ghatshila sub-division at about 4.40 am. Though there was no casualty but it spread fear among the locals and passengers.
Similarly, the bandh supporters burnt a water tanker near Kudada on the Kudada-Potka road under Potka police station area in the morning. The water tanker, which belonged to a Potka-based sponge iron unit was set on fire while it was filling water from a water-body at Kudada village.
The agitating JMM supporters also stopped several trucks and punctured their tyres on Hata-Tata State highway leading to vehicular jam. Apart from this those who were enforcing the bandh stopped about four passenger buses plying on Jamshedpur-Bhubaneswar route and assaulted the drivers as well as the conductors of the bus for defying the bandh call.
However, strict security arrangements were in place in East Singhbhum district in the view to the Prime Minister’s visit that maintained peace in the steel city. East Singhbhum senior SP Anoop T Mathew who was leading the police personnel took about 70 bandh supporters into custody.
“Though the bandh supporters tried to take law in their hand but all of them were arrested,” said Mathew confirming the torching of two vehicles at Mosabani and Potka. He said over 80 bandh supporters were arrested in the district.
At Dhalbhumgarh in Ghatshila sub-division, which comes under East Singhbhum district, the JMM activists had resorted to ransacking the shops as the shopkeepers defy the bandh call.
Seraikela-Kharsawan district remained incident-free where the police made preventive arrests — including that of JMM's vice-president and Seraikela MlA Champai Soren.
“We had ensured strict vigil and strong arrangements and our district was incident-free. All the 500 panchayat delegates, who were supposed to reach venue for the National Panchayati Raj Day function at JRD Tata Sports Complex, reached there by 11 am,” said Seraikela-Kharsawan SP Indrajeet Mahatha.
Champai Soren, who was kept under house arrest at his home in Hilingora, claimed Sunday’s Kolhan bandh call in protest against the Raghubar Das-led NDA Government’s domicile policy a complete success.
He claimed that about 40,000 JMM supporters across Kolhan were supposed to stage a demonstration in the Steel City on the day but due to the heavy deployment of police force and setting up of over a dozen barricades, the people could not go inside the city. West Singhbum SP Michael S Raj also informed that no violence took place in his district during the Kolhan bandh.