Panki tense but under control

biharsharif: to restore the feeling of security and to check further recurrence of any untoward incident in the fear-stricken village of panki, the dig of central range, amrik singh nimbran and the inspector general of police, neelmani singh visited the village where a criminal gang of forward caste (bhumihars) attacked the harijans on april 15 night, and killed munshi das and basanti paswan after pulling them from their houses, and injured four others.the police officers later on met the local police and gave them necessary instructions concerning law and order and the arrest of the culprits. on his return from the spot, dig nimbran told this reporter that buddhan singh of the same village is the main accused in this unprovoked killing of harijans. buddhan singh is a member of the criminal gang of sudama singh, who is wanted in several criminal cases. giving further details of the background of the incident, he said that buddhan singh is an accused under sec 307 ipc, who had hit one ganesh das with a bullet, who by chance escaped death. buddhan singh had come out of jail on bail recently. the present crime is said to be in retaliation to the case filed against buddhan singh by the harijans. the two senior police officers of the state also inquired about the details of the incident from the informant of the case, shiv shankar das of village panki, on whose statement an fir ncl 128/2000 dated 16 april 2000 was registered in silao police station. in course of the enquiry, shiv shankar das complained that bullu singh of the same village has threatened to kill him, and he is feeling insecure. the district police have been asked by the dig to provide security to shiv shankar das. according to the officer-in-charge silao police station, jogender yadav, so far 9 named accused out of 25 have been arrested. the main accused buddhan singh and bullu singh are still out of the police net. raids and searches are going on to apprehend them. with a view to creating a sense of security, and to check the migration of the harijans to another village, police force under a magistrate and a police officer is camping in the village, according to the police inspector, rajgir. on a visit to the affected village panki, this correspondent found the harijans totally scared of a recurrence of the previous incident. the village panki is dominated by bhumihars: of about 250 houses, 150 houses belong to bhumihars, and the rest 100 to harijans -- ravidas , manjhi and paswans. the four injured, bilas das, usha devi, subhash das and shukkar das were admitted in pmch where they are reported to be progressing, and out of danger. the district magistrate, nalanda, alekhdeo prasad has given grants for the funeral of the deceased and medical treatment of the injured persons. besides, foodgrains have been provided to the affected families by the administration. the situation in the village is under a strict watch and under control.