Hundreds of tribals clashed with police and resorted to stone pelting after being stopped from entering the civil court premises vacated in Jharkhand’s Latehar on Monday, leaving at least five policemen injured and several vehicles damaged, police said.
The alleged attackers belong to Tana Bhagat, a tribal sub-caste.
According to police, they had forcibly entered the premises of the civil court, which was hearing a case on implementation of constitutional provisions of local governance in Latehar district, which falls under Schedule Five of the Constitution that deals with the administration and control of scheduled areas as well as of scheduled tribes residing in any state.
However, as the court proceedings was getting disturbed, police tried to get the campus vacated, leading to the clash.
Vastly outnumbered police personnel resorted to baton charge and firing tear gas shells to control the protesters as they started pelting stones and vandalising parked vehicles, including police vans.
Latehar superintendent of police (SP) Anajani Anjan said five policemen and a few civilians were injured in the clash.
“Five policemen, including an inspector, have got injured. There are certain miscreants who are doing such things repeatedly. We have identified some of them. We are in process of registering an FIR. We will soon make arrests,” said Anjan.
In August 2021, Tana Bhagats had laid siege to the deputy commissioner’s office and had almost taken over the campus, protesting panchayat polls in a scheduled district, paralysing office work for three days.
