Four friends were found dead in Supaul district of Bihar, around 280km northeast of the state capital Patna, on Sunday.

Locals attacked the police station in the area, alleging that the youths were murdered. Four police personnel were injured and 14 persons have been arrested for the violence.

The incident occurred under the Birpur police station area located along the Indo-Nepal border. The deceased have been identified as Hritik Kumar, 22, Rohit Thapa, 21, Rohit Thakur, 21, and Ravi Karki, 20, — all residents of Birpur Nagar panchayat (notified area council).

The four youths had ventured out on their motorcycles on Saturday night to visit a rural fair in the area. Their bodies were found lying together on a roadside on Sunday morning.

The local residents informed the police about it. A police team visited the spot and claimed that the deaths were a result of a road accident. They sent the bodies for post-mortem.

However, the police action irked the people as they claimed that the motorcycles of the youths were not even slightly damaged, indicating that the deaths were not due to a road mishap. Soon, the local people blocked the roads in the area by putting up barricades and burning tyres. They created a ruckus and pelted stones at the police.

Later, the crowd moved forward and pelted stones at the police station.

“The police are trying to show the deaths of the four youths as an accident, but we think they have been murdered,” said Sushil Vaishya, a local resident.

Another local resident Subodh Kumar pointed out that the police took the bodies for post-mortem without even bothering to inform the family members of the deceased. “They did not even click photographs properly or collect forensic evidence for further investigations,” he added.

Meanwhile, the police rejected any foul play and said that getting the post-mortem done was their duty. They suspected that some vested interests incited the locals.

“There is no foul play in the deaths of the youths. It is a case of hit-and-run. We sent the bodies for post-mortem as per the rules. It seems some vested interests incited the locals to attack the police. The situation is under control now,” Supaul superintendent of police D. Amarkesh told The Telegraph.

“Four police personnel have been injured in stone pelting. We had to resort to mild lathi-charge to control the situation. We have also arrested 14 persons for the ruckus. The process of handing over the bodies after the post-mortem is going on,” Amarkesh added.

Manoj Bajpayee greets Lalu Prasad

RJD chief Lalu Prasad is greeted by actor Manoj Bajpayee as Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav looks on, at his residence in Patna on Saturday night. PTI picture

RJD chief Lalu Prasad is greeted by actor Manoj Bajpayee at his residence in Patna on Saturday night.

Bajpayee, who belongs to the West Champaran district of Bihar, was heard chatting with the ailing septuagenarian in fluent Bhojpuri and telling him: “You are our real hero”.

Lalu showed Bajpayee around to the cow shed maintained inside the government bungalow.