'They came with guns, sprinkled petrol and burnt down the Dalit settlement…', eyewitnesses of the Nawada incident, pain of homeless families spilled out.

Ashes everywhere, broken and burnt items… such is the scene of that Dalit settlement in Nawada, Bihar, where till yesterday there were houses only. But on Wednesday evening at 6.30, something happened 80 settled houses were set on fire. 100 strongmen carried out this crime. Whoever tried to stop them was thrashed. As soon as the strongmen entered the settlement, they first opened fire and then set 80 houses on fire by sprinkling petrol. Many families have become homeless after this incident. When eyewitnesses narrated what they saw, tears started flowing from their eyes.

Krishna Nagar village of Mufassil police station area is also known as Manjhi Tola. This is because Manjhi families have their houses here. They say that they have been living here for more than 50 years. They do farming here. They earn a living for their families by doing labor work. But a land mafia named Nandu Paswan had his eyes on this land. He has been claiming his right over this land for a long time.

However, according to the police, this land belongs neither to the Manjhi people nor to the Paswan people. This land belongs to the Bihar government. According to a villager of Manjhi Tola- On Wednesday evening around 6:30 pm, when we were cooking food, we heard the sound of screaming. We came out and saw that more than 100 people, including Nandu Paswan, Panu, Pooni, Nago, Nageshi, Rajo, Mithun, Dharmendra, Goli, Sarwan and Suneshwar Paswan, had entered our settlement.