In dry Bihar, gangster found consuming liquor in BDO's house

Noted gangster Tulsi Rai was arrested from the house of a Block Development Officer (BDO) while consuming liquor in dry Bihar.

The arrest took place at Paru block in Muzaffarpur, some 80 km from here.

Though the BDO has not been arrested as he was found to have not consumed liquor, a departmental action is likely against the official as he allowed his house to be used for alcohol consumption.

"Rai was apprehended from the BDO Ratnesh Kumar's residence on the premises of the block office," said the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Muzaffarpur, Vivek Kumar.

The police, acting on a tip-off that Rai was consuming liquor there, raided the place.

"Rai was found in an inebriated condition. Breath analyzer test was conducted which confirmed the presence of alcohol in his body," said the SSP.

The breath analyzer test was also conducted on the BDO as well as another person. Both, however, tested negative.

20 murder cases

Rai, a known history-sheeter, was wanted by the police in more than 20 cases of murder, extortion, kidnapping and road hold-up.

The SSP said he would inform the Government about the incident. "Appropriate action would be initiated against the official after getting a proper directive from the Government," said the SSP.

"We will, however, try to take Rai on remand for interrogation," said Excise Superintendent Deen Bandhu.

Bihar was declared a dry State in April 2016.

The law related to enforcement of prohibition has been made quite stringent so that it could serve as a deterrent to those addicted with alcohol.

Still, thousands of litre  of liquor are being smuggled in Bihar from the neighbouring states.

While several hundreds of litre  of liquor are seized almost every day, there have been instances where the cops, as well as excise officials, have lost their job for their failure to enforce prohibition.