10,000 home guards court arrest in Bihar, govt acts tough

Over 10,000 Home Guard personnel courted arrest across Bihar on Thursday as their indefinite strike continued for the seventh day, while the state government acted tough by registering an FIR against those who had blocked the bridge over the Ganga leading to the death of two patients.

Vaishali SP Chandrika Prasad said: “We have lodged an FIR at the Ganga Bridge police station against 150 Home Guards in connection with the blockade of Mahatma Gandhi Setu yesterday.” 

Seventeen of the accused have been named while the rest are unnamed. The police said no family member of the patients, who died in yesterday's '<g data-gr-id="18">chakka</g> jam' while on their way to <g data-gr-id="17">hospital</g>, has come forward so far to lodge a complaint.

In <g data-gr-id="19">Thurday’s</g> ‘jail <g data-gr-id="20">bharo</g>’ agitation the home guards squatted on the main thoroughfares in district headquarters, blocking vehicular movement. In Patna, over 3,000 home guards demonstrated at R-Block roundabout, before 450 of them courted arrest. In other districts, the number of those who courted arrest varied between 150 and 550.

The agitators in several districts marched on roads and raised slogans against the authorities concerned to meet their demands, including post-service benefits, a hike in their daily allowances and retirement age.