Justice N N Singh commission on Bhagalpur Riots gets extension

Patna, Aug 27: Bihar government today decided to extend the term of Justice N N Singh commission which was set to probe the cases of Bhagalpur riots of 1989 afresh in which over 1000 people had lost their lives. The NDA government after coming to power had constitututed the judicial commission asking it to probe the police laxity as well the role of other officials for failing to gather concrete evidences against the accused in at least 27 cases and submit its report within six months of its first hearing. Home secretary Afzal Amanullah told reporters that the government has decided in principle to extend the term of the commission as the commission was not provided with the office and employees in time to commence its inquiry. A proposal in this regard would be submitted to the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for getting the cabinet's clearance, home secretary said. "Now that the office and other requirements of the commission have been met, we expect that Justice (Retd) N N Singh will submit the report within six months after commission commence the hearing," Amanullah said. Meanwhile, the main accused Kameshwar Yadav of Bhagalpur riots has surrendered and many other witnesses who were not turning up in the court earlier have now approached the district administration and have expressed their willingness to record their statements before the commission, he said.