By Ramashankar

PATNA: Tension increased in a village in Bihar’s Vaishali district on Monday after residents noticed controversial posters pasted on at least 20-30 houses. The incident came to light when residents of Jadhua village, near Hajipur, in Vaishali district reported finding the posters with the phrase ‘I Love Mohammad’. They also observed a youth behaving suspiciously in the area.

The youth was detained for questioning. Because he refused to explain his reasons for putting up the posters, a mob beat him severely before the police arrived. Officers rescued him and took him to the hospital. The police have identified the youth as Juber Ansari, who runs an auto-rickshaw.

Locals told the police that he returned to his village from another state a few years ago.

Police removed the posters from the houses and kept some as evidence. Suresh Singh, a resident of Jadhua village, shared, “A group of 10 youths pasted the poster on the wall of my building. When I questioned, they threatened me.”

According to locals, the youths are from Mangani Tola. Police have detained one of them, while the others are still avoiding arrest. “The youths have tried to create discord in the village since returning from outside the state,” he added.

Subodh Kumar, Hajipur Sadar sub-divisional police officer, stated that sufficient armed police are present in the village to prevent trouble. He added: “We are vigilant and observing the situation carefully,” noting that “people from both Hindu and Muslim communities live in the village”.

Police have increased patrols as a precautionary measure. Officers in plainclothes have also been deployed to monitor the activities of local residents. Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who reached Gaya on Monday, reacted sharply to the posters being pasted in Bihar villages as well. “This is aimed at spreading hatred in society. The government should act tough against such activities,” he expressed.

The unrest in Bihar over ‘I love Muhammad’ posters comes days after a massive flare-up in Bareilly over the issue.

This story was originally published in newindianexpress.com.