No law and order in Bihar; Nitish Kumar has failed: Lalu Yadav on torching of Dalit houses

There is no law and order in Bihar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has failed, alleged RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday (September 19) reacting to the torching of Dalit houses in Nawada. 

Prasad also lashed out at Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who has claimed that "90 per cent of the people arrested in the Nawada incident belong to a particular caste and are RJD supporters".

"Jitan Ram Manjhi is completely misled and he is trying to mislead the people of the country. I will find out what has happened there (Nawada). Law and order has collapsed completely in the state," Yadav told reporters.

"This is very wrong. There is no law and order in Bihar. Nitish Kumar has failed," he later added.

The arson

Kumar condemned the torching of houses in Nawada district and directed the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to personally visit the site and oversee the probe.

Police arrested 15 people, a day after arsonists torched 21 houses in Nawada's Manjhi Tola.

Preliminary investigations indicate that a land dispute may have triggered the violence, which occurred in Manjhi Tola within the Mufassil police station area on Wednesday evening.

Nawada district magistrate Ashutosh Kumar Verma told PTI, "The district police has arrested 15 people for allegedly torching the houses. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to further investigate the matter, and searches are ongoing to apprehend any remaining suspects.

Further, he said that around 21 houses, some semi-pucca, were destroyed by a group in Manjhi Tola. And, he added that senior administrative and police officials on site will report the exact extent of the damage.