PATNA: Throwing all the norms of prohibition in force in Bihar, a police officer in Muzaffarpur was found drunk and behaving improperly in uniform and public. He was arrested and then suspended.
Additional Director General (ADG) of police (headquarters) SK Singhal said on Friday that Rameshwar Singh, the station house officer (SHO) of Kazi Mohammadpur police station was placed under suspension for violating prohibition and the police service rules.
Singh was arrested on Thursday night after he was seen walking unsteadily to the police station and speaking out of turn and in a loud voice.
He had reportedly seized a few bottles from a college student earlier in the evening and had guzzled a bottle himself. However, he claimed after his arrest that he was being framed for refusing a senior officer’s order to release an accused from lockup.
But Rameshwar Singh’s drunken antics were for all to see as they were caught on camera by a local television channel reporter who followed him up to the police station. Singh can also be heard saying on camera that “liquor is available at many shops around here”.
He even spelt out the names of the areas, which left Bihar’s top police and excise officials shocked.
Total prohibition was imposed in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar-led government in April, 2016, but there have been allegations that liquor is available to whoever wants to shell out a price significantly higher than the normal retail price.
Rameshwar Singh’s arrest made it the third arrest of police personnel in Bihar for drinking in the past two days. Two office-bearers of Bihar Police Men’s Association were arrested in Patna on Thursday while allegedly being drunk.
In Bikramganj near Patna, a young man was arrested for being drunk and chasing away passersby on Friday noon.