State Director General of Police K A Jacob, told PTI that while three people were killed in police firing on aspirants for Army recruitment in the two districts, the other 17 were swept away by swirling flood waters near Darbhanga's Army airbase campus following a stampede.

The stampede occurred when a youth in the crowd, while trying to force his entry into the airbase campus, snatched a policeman's pistol and pumped bullets into his chest. Altogether 30 people, including three armymen and seven police personnel who suffered injuries in the stampede were being treated at the Patna Medical College Hospital, he said.

Nine bodies were fished out from the flood waters this morning while others were in Chandrapura and Ranipur localities, 2.5 km from the airbase, Jacob said.

Meanwhile,State Chief Minister Rabri Devi has ordered an official inquiry by the Revenue Board into the incidents. She described the incidents as `serious' and said the State Government would like to have the inquiry report at the earliest.

An information cell has been opened at Darbhanga to exchange information about the victims' identity and register missing complaints.

Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) has called for a Mithilanchal bandh to protest against the incidents and plans to observe a protest day in other parts of the State on July 20. Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Sushil Kumar Modi has demanded a high-level inquiry into the incidents of Darbhanga and Chapra. In a statement in Patna, he also demanded a compensation of Rs two lakh for each victim's family besides a government job for a family member.