Shoe thrown at Bihar CM, man arrested

Patna, Jan 5:

A shoe was hurled at Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi during his weekly ‘Janata Durbar’ here Monday, police said. The shoe missed its target but the man who threw it was arrested.

A smiling Manjhi told the media he failed to understand the intention of the man – identified as Amritosh Kumar, a resident of Saran district.

“The shoe fell four-five feet from Manjhi but it shocked him. He never expected such an incident,” a police officer told IANS.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Jitendra Rana told reporters it was a planned act by the man and he confessed during police interrogation.

Amritosh Kumar told police he was fed up and angry as his work was not done despite several visits to the ‘Janata Durbar’.

He said Manjhi has not done any development work and was involved in “caste politics”.

The ‘Janata Durbar’ (public meeting) is held every week at the chief minister’s residence where he meets people and listens to their grievances. It was started by former chief minister Nitish Kumar in 2006.

Many political parties condemned the incident and described it as a reflection of the growing undemocratic manner of protest.

The ruling Janata Dal-United, its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal and thge Congress demanded a probe into the shoe attack. The Left parties also condemned it.

The Bharatiya Janata Party said the incident reflected the growing frustration of people with the chief minister. (IANS)