One dies in SSB firing

SNS, Siliguri, 5 January 2015: Naxalbari area near Siliguri turned a battlefield this evening after one person was killed in Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) firing.

Protesting the firing, an angry mob attacked the Naxalbari police station, damaged private and government vehicles, and ransacked several shops, injuring some people, including a driver there.

SSB jawans opened fire in the air as hundreds of villagers, including women, attacked them over a cattle seizure issue in the afternoon. Traffic came to a halt in front of the police station.

“Three persons were injured in SSB firing. One of them succumbed to his injuries,” Darjeleing SP Akhilesh Chaturvedi said.

The dead has been identified as Shib Kumar Rai, an Indian national and a resident of Shantinagar in Naxalbari.According to a senior administrative officer, the situation was under control late in the evening. The Rapid Action Force was deployed immediately to tame the situation, he said. The administration has decided to prepare an inquest report through a magistrate. Trouble broke out after SSB jawans entered Totaramjote, a minority community dominated village near the Indo-Nepal border and took away around 50 cattle heads.

After the seizure of the cattle, SSB officials said hundreds of villagers, including women and children, attacked the jawans, including women constables, and pelted them with stones. They also allegedly opened fire on them. No SSB jawan was injured.

“Villagers attacked SSB jawans, including women constables, with stones. Women attacked them with sharp weapons. Women constables were manhandled too. To disperse the mob, SSB jawans had to open 3-4 rounds of fire in the air as they heard gunshots from the other side,” publicity officer, SSB, KM Cariappa, said.

“Based on intelligence inputs, we started tracking cattle smuggling along the Indo-Nepal border. Today, SSB jawans noticed that a group of people brought around 200 cattle from Nepal. SSB Jawans entered the village to ask the locals about the cattle trading. Not a single villager responded to the jawans,” Mr Cariappa said.

“SSB jawans then took away around 50 cattle heads to the nearby border outpost and asked them to show valid papers if they want the animals back,” he added.

Naxalbari Block Development officer Kingshuk Maity said angry villagers attacked the Naxalbari police station. “They damaged some vehicles, including my vehicle, and injured the driver. They also ransacked some shops near the police station,” he said.

“A resident of Shantinagar, Shib Kumar Rai, died on the spot in the SSB firing,” he said, adding, “No decision has been taken to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPc there,” he added.