PATNA: Nine persons, mostly Dalits, were massacred in the home district of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar among a total of 17 killed in separate incidents of violence during the second phase of panchayat elections in the State on Thursday. The turnout was put at 68 per cent in 57 blocks of 37 districts where polling was held.

The nine, most of whom belonged to the extremely backward Kahar caste, were gunned down by a gang while retreating after losing on of its key member in a clash outside a polling booth.

The clash outside the polling booth took place at Bhadarpur village in Sheikhpura district allegedly between the supporters of two candidates belonging to the same Bhumihar caste, Tantan Singh and Ramanuj Singh. Ramanuj Singh lost one of his sharp shooters in the battle to capture the booth.

While retreating, the Ramanuj Singh's allegedly gang attacked a group of people at Goachak village in Nalanda district just about 1.5 km from Bhadarpur village in the neighbouring district. Of the nine killed, eight were Kahars and the ninth a Yadav.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar denied gang rivalry behind the massacre stressing that the killers fired indiscriminately on their way back after losing one of their gang members.

He condemned the killing and called for peace. Mr. Kumar would be visiting the spot on Friday.

Earlier, State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah said he suspected involvement of the Akhilesh Singh gang behind the carnage. The Police Headquarters was a confused house. IG Operations Anil Sinha sought to conceal facts and mislead the Press.

He corrected himself at the directive of the Chief Minister and admitted that it was a poll-related incident and the fallout of the clash outside a polling booth in which one person was killed.

Earlier Mr. Sinha maintained that there was no poll in Bhadarpur today and refused to divulge whether the death of one person was the outcome of a clash.

The other killings took place in Arwal, Saran and Jammui districts. Three persons, including a home guard, were killed in Arwal district.

Two more were killed in a clash in Parshurampur village while a home guard was killed in a separate incident in Masidpur village of Arwal district.

An alleged booth grabber was lynched in Mubarakpur village in Saran district. Three persons lost their lives while making explosives in Jammui district.

The police rounded up over 300 people as a precautionary measure, besides seizing 14 weapons.

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