Bihar government raises anti-riot force

Bihar government today said they have raised 52 companies of an anti-riot force to handle any incidents of communal violence in the state, especially with Lok Sabha polls round the corner.

Sharing the news with reporters here, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that each comany of the new force, culled from amongst the new recruits to Bihar police, would comprise about 70 jawans. He said that the new force would be given special training to deal with situations arising out of communal disturbances.

Bihar recently witnessed communal violence in Nawada, Bettiah and Bhojpur. There are fears that incidents of communal violence might see a rise in the state before the parliamentary elections.

Giving further details, DGP Abhyanand told PTI that nearly 1,000 police jawans had been provided special training in crowd management and helping the injured. "Two to three companies out of them will be sent to the RAF training centre for more specialised training," he added.

"The Union Home ministry has accepted our request for specialised training at the RAF training centre. Very soon, our jawans will be sent for the same," he said. The anti-riot force would be provided a separate uniform and the idea is to depute at least one company in each of the 38 districts of Bihar, Abhyanad said.

In addition to batons, shields and tear gas, the force would be given devices like the 'stun gun', which gives an electric shock through a high voltage discharge.