6 burnt alive, Nitish orders probe

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today ordered a high-level administrative inquiry into the burning alive of six members of a family in the Raghopur block in the Vaishali district, which falls in the constituency of Leader of the Opposition Rabri Devi.

"A high-level administrative probe will be conducted into the incident. The inquiry will also go into the role of the officer-in-charge of the Raghopur police station besides those of block development officer and circle officer. Those found guilty will be severely punished," Kumar said after meeting the relatives of the deceased at Rampur-Shyamchand village, the site of the incident, about 40 km from the district headquarters.

Officer-in-charge of the Raghopur police station Nasriuddin Khan has already been suspended. Kumar said if any link of the officer-in-charge of the police station with the killers was confirmed, the government would dismiss him from service.

Kumar, accompanied by Revenue Minister Ramnath Thakur, said the burning alive of six members of an extremely backward class family after locking them in a room of a thatched house was "gruesome" and it had "sullied" the image of the state.

"Those who committed the crime are not humans," he said. Kumar said the kin of the aggrieved family would be adequately compensated and houses under the Indira Awas Yojna would be provided.

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi are also expected to visit the village.

A woman and her five children were burnt alive in the village for apparently refusing to withdraw a complaint of theft of a buffalo in September last year. Two persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. The family was burnt alive after some persons set ablaze their house around 1 am, Superintendent of Police Preeta Verma said.

Vijendra Mahto had lodged a complaint of theft of his buffalo in September last year in which one Jagat Rai and two others were named accused, the SP said.

Rai reportedly pressurised Mahto to withdraw the case and had threatened him with dire consequences if he failed to do so.

Rai, recently released on bail in the case, and his henchmen went to Mahto's house last night and asked him to withdraw the case, Verma said.

When he refused to do so, they locked all seven members of the family inside the thatched house and set it on fire.

While the six perished in the fire, Mahto received serious burn injuries and was hospitalised, the SP said.