In Nitish’s ‘sushashan’, Retd IPS officer roughed up

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is never tired of boasting about how he established ‘sushashan’ (good governance) in Bihar. However, in a classic case of utter lawlessness in the State, a retired IPS officer was brutally assaulted by unidentified goons in the State capital in broad daylight.

To add insult to the injury, when the victim’s wife, who was accompanying him in the car, dialled 100 seeking police protection, no one picked up the phone. And finally, when the local inspector got the information, he shrugged off saying the incident site was not under his jurisdiction.

In the meantime, the goons, who had a scuffle with the retd IPS officer Ajay Verma, thrashed him for nearly 30 minutes, besides smashing the window-panes of his private vehicle. The marauders, who created mayhem on the Bypass road, also assaulted his son (an engineering college student), who was accompanying his parents in the car.

The whole fracas started on Tuesday evening when the retired official, along with his family, was returning home through Bypass road. In the meantime, their car stopped near a red light signal. However, a biker gate-crashed into the vehicle. As a consequence, the vehicle’s rear light was damaged. Verma came out of the car and had an argument with the young bikers.

Soon, the bikers summoned locals from the vicinity and started assaulting the retired IPS officer. “When I dialled 100, I could not get any help. I shouted: Please help. But no one came to our defence,” lamented Shampa Verma, wife of the victim.

Later, when the local police came to know about the case, it turned a blind eye to the incident saying it was “not under our jurisdiction.”

The matter was reported to higher-up police officials. As a consequence, top cops rushed to the site. “Prima facie, it seems to be a case of road rage. We have seized the bike. Those who have committed the crime will be apprehended soon,” said Senior SP (SSP) of Patna, Garima Malik.