CPIML and Insaaf Manch jointly organized a protest march and meeting in Patna on 29 September under the call of statewide Protest Day demanding justice in the case of Kakko (Jehanabad) footpath vegetable vendor Mohammad Mohsin, who was beaten to death by criminals for giving just five rupees less in extortion tax, and also immediate arrest of Nirbhay Pandey, the murderer of Santosh Manjhi in Nawada.
The protest also raised the issue of increasing crime around Patna station area and demanded security for the poor, Dalits, minorities and women.
Addressing the gathering, CPIML MLC Comrade Shashi Yadav said that in recent days incidents of crime have rapidly increased in Bihar. The daylight shooting of Patna businessman Gopal Khemka, burning alive of two minor siblings in Phulwarisharif, the killing of a girl in Chitkohra government school bathroom by setting her on fire, the murder of vegetable vendor Mohammad Mohsin in Kakko for five rupees, and the brutal killing of Santosh Manjhi in Nawada all show that the morale of criminals is at its peak. Even inside jail a young man was killed for not giving money. Without political patronage the confidence of criminals cannot be so high. The Nitish government has given criminals a free hand and the people will give a befitting reply in the 2025 elections.
Comrade Ranvijay Kumar in his address said that Nitish’s police lathi charge unemployed youth struggling for jobs and recruitment, but on the other hand they collude with criminals and protect them. The incident where minister Jivesh Mishra abused, threatened, beat and attempted to abduct a youth for questioning him on poor road condition has exposed the reality of the so-called good governance. The people now understand the truth of the double engine government and will oust it in the coming elections.
Earlier on 20 September, CPIML and the Patna Footpath Vendors’ Union organised protest meetings in Patna against the brutal mob lynching of Mohsin Alam. The protests also demanded strict action against the BJP-backed criminal Vicky Patel, accused in the killing.
Speakers at the protests condemned the brutal killing of Md Mohsin Alam, the growing incidents of mob lynching, and criminal attacks on poor vendors and minorities under BJP rule. They demanded justice for Md Mohsin Alam and protection for small vendors and workers across Bihar.
