Khagaria carnage; Paswan asks Nitish to resign

Blaming the Bihar government for the Khagaria carnage in which 16 backward caste people were killed, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) president Ramvilas Paswan today demanded that chief minister Nitish Kumar resign owning moral responsibility for the incident.

"The carnage has been sponsored by the state government in the name of giving protection to the Mahadalits (Mussahars). I hold the government responsible for it," Paswan told reporters here before leaving for the spot. Nitish Kumar should resign on moral grounds, he said.

The LJP chief sought a judicial probe by a retired chief justice of the Patna high court into the killing at Amosi Bharen — the area represented by his younger brother and state party president Pashupati Kumar Paras.

Paswan demanded that the state government immediately announce an ex-gratia of Rs10lakh to each of the bereaved families and a government job to an eligible member of the families of the victims.

According to him, had the state government been alert the carnage could have been averted as there was a prolonged altercation between the Kurmis and Koeris and the Mussahars in the area, he said. Alleging that the crimegraph in Bihar was spiralling, Paswan said he would seek the centre's intervention in the issue.