Land dispute is said to be the reason behind the massacre. One suspected person has been nabbed in this connection.

 

According to villagers, almost 24 persons equipped with rifles descended on the Amousi village after midnight, where 21 villagers were asleep guarding their cultivated land and cattle. The miscreants woke them up, tied their hands and shot them in the heads. Four villagers sensing the bloodbath fled from the scene taking the advantage of the darkness, while one Paro Singh survived by pretending to be dead and lying on the ground.

 

Police has started a combing operation in the area and the border of Khagaria district has been sealed. However, tension is prevailing in the entire area. State IG (Operation) SK Bhardwaj, Bhagalpur Range IG, AR Kinni, Munger IG, Amit Kumar are camping in the area with several police personnel.

 

State DGP Anand Shankar, after returning from the area said that, it seemed that a land dispute was the reason behind the killings though, involvement of Naxal activities can not be ruled out. He said that the police was investigating the incident from all possible angles.

 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has denounced the incident and said that stringent action will be taken against the culprits and they will not be spared at any cost. He said that, Rs 1.50 lakhs will be awarded to the next of the kin of the deceased.

 

Bihar has not witnessed any massacre since 2000 when at least 54 persons belonging to the Yadav caste were mowed down in Aurangabad district, in a revenge to the killings of an equal number of Bhumihar caste in Jehanabad district in 1999.