Ground Zero
‘ Chura liya hai tumne jo pul ko, nahar nahi churana sanam (Now that you have stolen the bridge, please do not steal the canal)’. Ever since news broke on April 6 that an iron bridge in Bihar had been stolen, leaving everyone bemused, this play on the famous Hindi film song, Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko, from the 1970s has been widely shared on social media. The most bewildered, however, are not the readers and viewers but the residents of Amiyawar village in Bihar’s Rohtas district where this astonishing heist was pulled off.
The residents of Amiyawar did not suddenly wake up one fine morning to find the bridge missing, as was the picture painted by some sections of the media. Over three days — April 2, 3 and 4 — the villagers happily watched the bridge being dismantled and carted off. They counted their blessings, as they had finally got rid of a defunct eyesore. Only later were they informed that what they had witnessed was, in fact, a crime taking place in broad daylight. The villagers were stunned to learn that what they had assumed to be officially sanctioned work had been an elaborate subterfuge which thrust the village, and Bihar, into the spotlight of the national and international media.
