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11 killed in Bihar as state bandh begins

Eleven people were killed in Bihar on Sunday, two days after President's Rule was imposed in the state.

Seven people were killed in Jehanabad district, the centre of extremist violence in the state. State Director General of Police T P Sinha told Star News that the killings were not related to the caste clashes which claimed the lives of 37 people this past month.

The DGP said the killings were the consequence of rivalry between two Marxist-Leninist groups in the region, the Liberation Group and the People's War Group. At least four of those killed were upper-castes, but Sinha chose to explain this as "upper castes have been members of these Naxalite groups for a long time."

The incident occurred in Usri bazaar under the Mehendia police station precincts in Jehanabad district.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader in the Bihar assembly Sushil Kumar Modi claimed that four of the victims were BJP workers.

On his way to the scene of the killings, Modi told UNI that one of the victims was identified as Naval Sharma, a prominent BJP worker. He blamed Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav for instigating violence in the state 'to defame President's rule.'

A report from Palamu district said the banned Naxalite outfit Maoist Communist Centre shot dead a jawan and injured a state police constable escorting the Barwadi-Dehri-on-Sone passenger train at Sigidi railway station on Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, the state administration has imposed tight security all over the state as the RJD's 12-hour bandh began this morning to protest against the imposition of President's Rule in Bihar.

Sinha said police superintendents in all the districts have been alerted to avert any untoward incident and keep close watch on anti-social elements. Prohibitory orders have been enforced in the state capital and the district police chiefs directed to enforce this section accordingly.

Special security arrangements, Sinha said, have been made in sensitive installations, including railway stations, airports, post offices, banks and other important public places.

Early reports said the bandh evoked partial response today. Official sources said that sporadic incidents of obstruction of railway traffic at Barh, Dumraon, Mokamah, and on the Patna-Gaya sections of Danapur division of the Eastern Railways were reported.

Sources said more than 200 RJD acitivists have been arrested so far when they forcibly tried to close shops and obstruct vehicular traffic in the state.

All the markets in Patna were closed. Banks and government offices, however, functioned normally.

UNI

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