PATNA: An emboldened liquor mafia in Bihar’s central Muzaffarpur district assaulted a police team and chopped off the hand of a sub-inspector and the ear of another, causing a sense of fear in the state’s police force.
Mahendra Kumar, the station house officer of Kuchaikot police station in Gopalganj district, and Munna Kumar Yadav, the SHO of Mohammadpur police station in the same district, were attacked by nearly 20 people with sharp-edged weapons in Paru on Tuesday. A home guard jawan, Krishna Yadav, also suffered severe injuries in the attack.
Doctors at a private hospital in Patna conducted surgeries on Wednesday to join Kumar’s chopped off left hand and the other police official’s ear. The condition of the three cops is said to be stable.
The police team from two police stations in Gopalganj district had gone to arrest notorious liquor mafiosi Ajay Rai, an accused in a recent case in which a huhe consignment of liquor was seized from a truck filled with potato. As soon as the cops reached Rai’s village, Thenkpur under Paru police station in Muzaffarpur district, nearly 20 men working for Rai attacked them with sharp weapons and sticks, said officials.
Police conducted raids in the area to arrest the men who attacked the police team. Muzaffarpur SP Vivek Kumar said two men suspected of being a part of Rai’s gang were arrested and that raids were still on. Officials are reportedly examining the “proactive role” of a local politician, who is a zila parishad member, in making the attack on the cops successful.
The attack prompted the main Opposition BJP to question the government’s sincerity in making Bihar free from consumption and sale of liquor. “What steps is the government taking at a time when attacks on police are rising? Will the government stop the production of liquor in the state before it organises the statewide human chain in support of prohibition on January 21?” asked senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.