Liquor ban fallout! Bihar police officers refuse promotions, reject SHO postings

The district administration of Nalanda on Tuesday said it has initiated the process to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on every household of Kailashpuri village as collective penalty for violating the prohibition law in Bihar.

Patna: It may sound strange but as per a media report, Bihar cops are refusing promotion offers.

NDTV quoted sources in Bihar Police Association (main administrative body for cops) as saying that more than 200 officers have in writing refused to take charge of police stations.

The report said that it was supposedly because of tightening the screws on already-strict laws that ban alcohol in Bihar. 

Earlier last week 11 SHOs were suspended for 10 years after the discovery of equipment and utensils apparently used to brew liquor in the areas where they were charge of.

"Instead of  being rewarded for doing a good job, policemen are being punished on flimsy grounds," Mritoynjay Kumar Singh, Secretary of the Bihar Police Association was quoted by the media house as saying.

The association reportedly wants cops accused of dereliction to be investigated by their seniors before being suspended.

Moreover, as per the report, the police officers say that the new prohibition laws risk their careers.

This is because power has been skewed towards excise department officials, according to them.

On their part, the excise officials, cite massive unrelenting pressure to prove that the ban on alcohol is successful.

Meanwhile, The district administration of Nalanda on Tuesday said that it had initiated the process to impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on every household of Kailashpuri village as collective penalty for violating the prohibition law in Bihar.

This is probably the first instance of application of the tough prohibition law in the state by imposing the 'collective fine' as incorporated in the amended law.

District Magistrate Tyagrajan SM said the process has been started to impose collective fine on all the 50 households of the village in Islampur block following recovery of liquor bottles.

The administration of Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has repeatedly appealed to the villagers to keep off liquor which is banned since April 5 in the state, but liquor business has continued in the area, as per PTI.

As per the various amendments introduced in the Bihar Excise and Prohibition Law that got the Bihar Legislature's nod during the Monsoon Session recently, a collective fine can be imposed on the entire village or town if a group of people repeatedly violate the prohibition law.

As per the law, there is a provision to impose a fine of upto Rs one lakh if the law is violated, the DM said.

(With Agency inputs)