Our Bureau/

As a part of damage control exercise Bhagalpur SSP, Monoj Kumar suspended  six cops including a ASI rank official last night but lawyers continue to blame police for the entire incident. District bar association (DBA), Bhagalpur has demanded immediate suspension of all the cops who were involved in beating the lawyers while entering inside DBA premises.

In the meantime chief justice, Patna High court has taken cognizance of the last evening incident of police-lawyers clash, directed the register general of the High court to seek detail reports from the DGP, Bihar along with DM and SSP Bhagalpur.

In meanwhile lawyers here shown solidarity during an emergent meeting which was called by DBA, Bhagalpur this morning in which lawyers unanimously decided to fight legal battle against the police which last evening  attacked lawyers and ransacked the DBA. “It was really a shocking incident in which police had tried to curb the lawyers’ fundamental right, they were protesting on democratic pattern when they were attacked,” alleged Rajendra Mandal, president of DBA, Bhagalpur.

Mandal said the incident was the repetition of noted Bhagalpur Court incident of November 18, 1997 in which lawyers were mercilessly beaten by the police after a local court sent a SI rank officer to jail for disobeying court’s order. State government had to set up a judiciary inquiry commission and over dozens cops were put behind bars. “ Yesterday since court  works were remained defunct mainly due to strike by the lawyers and there was a few lawyers, otherwise the intensity of the yesterday’s incident might have caused a big mishap,” he observed.

The laywers decided to protest police’s inactivity to arrest the culprits involved in the brutal murder of a young lawyer, Md Mazrul Haque alias Arju (35). “We would not join the court till upto October 28 next and our next course of strategy would soon be taken in this direction,” said Sanjoy Kumar Modi, general secretary of DBA, Bhagalpur.

Arju was dramatically missing from the court premises on October 12 after attending a call in his mobile. Later on the next day, ie, on October 13 his dead body with multiple injuries was recovered from an isolated place under Photia PS in Katihar district. The members who started protesting the incident and also the indifferent police attitude, were burning the effigies of DM and SP when some traffic constables confronted with them at Katchahari chawk. In the development of sequences, later the cops entered inside the DBA campus and inside the DBA building and mercilessly beaten the lawyers in which some 4 lawyers sustained injuries.

“Earlier on October 12 soon Arju was disappeared, we approached police but it didn’t take any initiative. Had it initiated, Arju would not have killed as he was kidnapped from Bhagalpur and the murders managed to bring him to Katihar district,” alleged Modi while adding that earlier the slain lawyer who was also a RTI activist and was active against the land mafias involved in the grabbing the lands related to Muslim religious institutions, applied for the license of fire arm from the district magistrate, Bhagalpur. “He ran pillar to post for it as he apprehended direct threat on his life but the administration never paid attention to his request for a license of fire arm,” he alleged.

SSP, Bhagalpur Manoj Kumar who was instructed by the deputy inspector general of police, Bhagalpur zone, Vikash Vaibhav, called on the general secretary of DBA, Bhagalpur in the late last evening and assured appropriate actions against the erring cops. Later in late night he suspended 6 cops including a ASI  rank police officer, Bijay Kumar Singh.

Kameshwar Pandey, a senior lawyer here and the vice president of state bar council told the lawyers at the meeting that the chief justice, Patna High court, Rajendra Menon has taken cognizance of the last evening incident in which police had beaten the lawyers inside DBA building. “The CJ has constituted a team headed by registered general of the Patna High court and asked to seek detail report from DGP, Bihar along with SSP and DM, Bhagalpur about the incident. The CJ has fixed November 1 for hearing of the case,” Pandey said on the basis of a massage from Patna High court which was delivered to him.

Meanwhile, a FIR was registered  from the side of the police last night in which four lawyers were made named accused. “It’s matter of concern, we are trying to identify other cops involved in the incident besides investigation is going on to find the real accused who instigated the incident,” said SSP, Monoj Kumar.

Kumar said that the SIT which is investigation Arju’s murder episode almost reached near to the culprits. “The entire investigation has been conducting on scientific basis, hope soon we will have the achievement,” he claimed.