Patna: Bihar’s Rural Development Minister Shrawan Kumar and Hilsa MLA Krishna Murari, also known as Prem Mukhiya, were chased and attacked by villagers with sticks on Wednesday, forcing them to run nearly a kilometre and change three vehicles to escape. The attack occurred in Malama village, Nalanda district, following their visit to families of nine people who died in a road accident on August 23.
The incident marks the second attack on a minister in Bihar within three days. On August 25, Health Minister Mangal Pandey’s car was pelted with stones on Patna’s Atal Path.
The attack unfolded after the minister and MLA arrived in Malama at around 10am to fulfil a promise made by the MLA to meet families affected by the accident. The nine victims, including eight women and one auto driver, had died in a head-on collision between a truck and an auto near Sigariyawa station on the Daniyawan-Hilsa State Highway-4. Four others were injured. Eyewitnesses said the victims were travelling to the Ganga river to bathe on the occasion of the Teej festival.
While the minister and MLA met the bereaved families and promised compensation, villagers became agitated when they prepared to leave. Protesters argued that previous promises of compensation had not been fulfilled and blamed the MLA for clearing a blockade on the day of the accident without ensuring proper relief. Hundreds of villagers surrounded the leaders and a local journalist, brandishing sticks and rods.
Police said the minister and MLA fled on foot for approximately 700 metres before reaching a waiting car. They were subsequently forced to switch vehicles twice more as the crowd continued to pursue and attack them, throwing sticks and stones. Bodyguards sustained injuries during the escape. A heavy police presence remains deployed in the village, and authorities are identifying those involved in the attack.
The Hilsa MLA blamed a nearby cement factory for the accident, stating that the truck involved belonged to the factory and that the road conditions, worsened by local construction, contributed to frequent accidents. The local administration has begun distributing immediate financial aid to the victims’ families.
