Baton wielding supporters of Adivasi-Moolwasi Janadhikar Manch on Saturday resorted to vandalism in the State Capital creating fear among the residents during the one-day Statewide bandh called in support of defining the domicile policy of the State.
Armed protesters blocked traffic everywhere causing inconvenience to the commuters while the police remained a mute spectator during the dawn to dusk drama which led to suspension of bus services between important cities besides crippling the city transport service. Schools also remained shut.
Significantly, the bandh supporters did not clash with the cadres of Babulal Marandi-led JVM who assembled in majority at Morhabadi ground and marched to Raj Bhawan in the evening to submit a memorandum to the Raj Bhawan demanding special status to Jharkhand. Marandi, whose stand on domicile issue, had rocked the State in 2002, extended support to the bandh call by the Manch.
Protestors hit the road early in the morning and targeted around three buses near Booty More smashing window panes forcing other bus operators to suspend operation throughout the day. One vehicle each was broken near Ranchi College, Sri Krishna Institute of Public Administration, at Karamtoli Chowk, in Kanke Road. "We are active since morning and have enforced bandh successfully in Booty More," said a protestor holding banner in support of the bandh and demanding immediate action on domicile policy.
A few senior bureaucrats also changed their route due to blockade at several places. Bandh supporters, which included members of around 26 small organisations, burned tires at as many as 15 squares in the city and destroyed property near the State library. While the atmosphere was engulfed in black smoke erupting from burning tires roads in some localities were covered by a thick layer of black dust.
Motorcycle borne bandh supporters brought public transport system to complete halt causing inconvenience to hundreds of commuters and forced business to remain close till the Saturday evening. The protestors on wheels forced businesses to down their shutter in Morhabadi, Karamtoli, in entire stretch of Bariatu Road and Kanke Road.
Bizarrely, Mandar MlA Bandhu Tirkey who is supporting the ruling colaition, spearheading the agitation, put the onus of violence on the innocent commuters and blamed them for not remaining inside their houses on the day of bandh. The Mandar MlA also expressed satisfaction over the support received by various organizations and assured to motivate people to desist from violence during bandh. "Violence happened due to anger. However, people also need to understand that the issue concerns them as well. I assure you that in future I will try to convince people not to resort to violence while enforcing bandh," said Tirkey.
Brazenly preventing people from moving freely, the protestors blocked the road by either with vehicle or burning tires at around dozen places across the city. The protestors not only defied the district administration's appeal of peaceful protest but thrashed several commuters who tried to make their way through the unruly mob.
"I thought my college would be open today so I came to attend the classes but I was turned back and abused by the mob," said Shreya a student of Ranchi College. Interestingly, the police confirmed to have arrested around 525 persons, including Bandhu Tirkey for violation of Section 144, imposed by the district administration to maintain order during the bandh and later released all the arrested people on bail by evening.
Notably, no FIR has been registered by the police who is collecting video footage from different areas to zero on the culprits among the protestors. "Since offences under the section are bailable we have released all those who were arrested. We have not lodged FIR. Right now we are collecting video footage to identify miscreants," said City SP Manoj Ratan Chothe. Meanwhile, the bandh had mixed response in Dhanbad and Bokaro where no untoward incident was reported. However, normal life was affected in rural areas of West Singhbhum while the urban area remained largely unaffected.