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Governor holds Rabri responsible for Jehanabad killings

Amidst demands to impose President's rule in Bihar following the Jehanabad massacre, Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari on Friday held a meeting with Union Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani.

During the 40-minute talks, Bhandari is understood to have apprised the home minister of the law and order situation, and held the Rabri Devi government responsible for its deterioration.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has initiated a probe into the incident. Headed by Bangaru Laxman, MP, a three-member team will leave for the district in a day or two, its spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu said.

He said then team would submit its report to BJP president Kushabhau Thakre.

Naidu reiterated the demand for Rabri Devi's dismissal. He said there was total lawlessness, and jungle raj was prevailing in the state.

Despite warnings, the state had failed to take any preventive measures. Last year, too, when a similar incident had taken place, the chief minister had promised to set up special courts and a judicial inquiry into the incident. But nothing was done, he said.

The BJP accused the state of working hand in glove with private armies.

It demanded that the Congress and the Left parties, which were supporting the Rashtriya Janata Dal government, come out with a clear stand on the massacre. Naidu regretted that the Congress demanded dismissal of the Gujarat government, but was keeping mum on the incidents in Orissa, where it had its own government, and Bihar, where it was supporting the Rabri Devi government.

UNI

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