Mourners protesting Thursday’s assassination of Dalit Sena and Bhim Army leader Rakesh Paswan erupted in Vaishali district of Bihar on Ambedkar Jayanti, burning tyres, attacking vehicles and vandalising shops and homes.

Rakesh, 38, was shot dead by four unidentified men at his home in Lalganj, Vaishali, while he was overseeing preparations for a procession to mark Babasaheb Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on Friday.

“Four people arrived at our home. They touched the feet of mother and Rakesh and suddenly started firing,” Rakesh’s brother Mukesh told reporters.

“I was inside but rushed out. The attackers fired at me too. I hid and they fled on motorcycles.”

Rakesh was national secretary of the Dalit Sena — a wing of the Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) — and convener of the Bhim Army. Both are Ambedkarite organisations that campaign for Dalit rights.

Several thousand people converged at Lalganj on Friday morning to participate in the funeral procession. Suddenly, the crowd, which was chanting slogans demanding the arrest of the assailants, went berserk.

It blocked the road, targeted vehicles and property, and attacked Lalganj police station, prompting the force to fire in the air.

"The situation is peaceful now. Nine people have been arrested," Vaishali superintendent of police Ravi Ranjan Kumar told The Telegraph.

"We have begun investigations into the murder and obtained a few leads, but no arrests have been made till now."

Rakesh ran a youth organisation called the Bharat Naujawan Sabha. He had contested the 2020 Assembly elections from Lalganj as an Independent.