Two days after the Deoria incident in which a youth died in killed in police firing, a mob torched a police outpost, killed a sub-inspector and injured two others in the Jamania tehsil in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
The mob was protesting against the arrest of a person on charges of robbery and the situation turned volatile when a woman suffered injuries in police retaliation. Several vehicles were also torched.
As Ghazipur borders Bihar and the Naxalite affected Chandauli district, the possibility of the involvement of extremist groups in the violence has not been ruled out.
Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) Brij Lal told journalists here that the 200-strong mob included several members of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist).
Wednesday's incident was a fallout of the protest against the arrest of Manoj Bind, who was accused of stealing Kisan Vikas Patras worth Rs. 51.70 lakh from the local post office in Jamania on the night of December 9-10 last.
Following the arrest on December 30, the locals staged a dharna, alleging that the charges against Bind were false.
The situation turned violent when the police used force to disperse the protesters.
At this, the mob marched to the police outpost at the Jamania railway crossing and burnt it down.
The outpost in-charge, sub-inspector Rama Rao was killed and two other policemen were injured in the ensuing violence.
Mr. Lal said the sub-inspector was killed when someone from the mobopened fire from a country-made pistol.
The injured policemen are stated to be in a critical condition.
About 50 persons have been rounded up for indulging in violence and arson.
One company of reserve police has been deployed in Jamania and additional forces from the neighbouring Azamgarh and Varanasi districts have been despatched there.
Deoria incident
This is the second incident in less than 48 hours in which the police and protesters have violently clashed.
On Monday, Manoj Pal was killed in firing by the police in Deoria district following a clash with a mob, which was protesting against the mysterious death of a priest Sangam Das alias Naga Baba.
The State government on Tuesday refuted allegations of the involvement of Bahujan Samaj Party workers and claimed that the priest had committed suicide.
