BANKA, July 10: Despite police presence, tension prevails in Biji Kherwa and its adjoining villages near Hanumana Dam, where 11 people were thrown into the overflowing reservoir by unidentified assailants on Monday. Eight people were killed in the incident while the other three managed to escape.Normal life in Biji Kherwa was paralysed for the third day today. A majority of the male residents were trying to trace their neighbour, Jogendra Lal, who is suspected to have been killed in the incident.

Former Congress MLA Chandra Mauleshwar Singh alias `Lalan', whose son Biplav Kumar, 26, and a relative Santosh Kumar Singh, 20, were among the eight killed, has been staging a dharna outside the District Collector's office here since Tuesday afternoon, demanding immediate arrest of the killers and a compensation of Rs five lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.

``The attack was planned. My son had been emerging as a popular leader. This unnerved my rivals. The goondas of Girdhari Yadav killed them,'' alleged Singh, while around 15 to 20 of his supporters shouted slogans ranging from `police murdabad' to `Laloo Yadav murdabad'. Girdhari Yadav, considered to be a lieutenant of Laloo Prasad Yadav and a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP from Banka, was however not available for comments. But Banka district RJD secretary Brij Mohan Yadav, one of Girdhari's supporters, refuted Singh's allegation saying: ``Singh is in dotage. He has deliberately blamed us for the crime to draw political mileage out of his son's killing.''Amid these allegations and counter-allegations, police have not been able to find out the motive behind the mass murder. ``We are studying the case and trying to figure out who the culprits are,'' was all that Banka DSP Anandi Das would say.

However, Durga Prasad Yadav, who is in-charge of Belhar police station and who is investigating the case, suspects that members of the Progressive Students and Youth were behind the killings. ``We have reasons to believe that the criminals were in a hurry. After throwing Jogindra into the reservoir, they saw the youths coming from the other end on bikes. Probably, to remove all signs of evidence of the crime, they pounced on them,'' he said. The police are yet to make any arrests in the case.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.