Bihar: BJP MLA’s brother-in-law, his driver arrested in liquor smuggling case

Under Bihar’s Excise Act, the sale and consumption of alcohol was banned in Bihar by the chief minister Nitish Kumar government in April 2016

Bihar police on Saturday arrested a close relative and his driver of Gopalganj Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sadar Kusum Devi on charges of liquor possession.

Gopalganj Police recovered 36 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from their possession (Representative Photo)

Police said they were arrested from Kararia village, around 190km northwest of the state capital, late on Saturday while coming from Uttar Pradesh.

The arrests were made after a tip-off, and police recovered 36 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from their possession, said Gopalganj excise superintendent Rakesh Kumar.

“The excise police had started a routine checking of vehicles when this particular vehicle carrying two persons was stopped. Bottles of IMFL in four cartoons were found in the automobile,” Rakesh said.

Police have identified the arrested persons as Ashok Singh, a former chief of Khawajepur panchayat and his driver Harikesh Shah.

Singh is the brother-in-law of MLA Devi and the younger brother of former minister Subhash Singh, police said.

Following the arrest, a first information report was lodged at the Town police station, and both were sent to jail, said police.

When contacted, the MLA said the driver had kept liquor bottles in the car, but his brother-in-law was unaware of it.

Under Bihar’s Excise Act, the sale and consumption of alcohol was banned in Bihar by the chief minister Nitish Kumar government in April 2016.

Meanwhile, Bihar police late on Saturday night seized at least 45,303 bottles of IFML loaded in a sealed container and trucks from Muzaffarpur and Banka districts, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off from the Patna control room, a team of Gaighat police seized the container near Beruga Dhalan locality and arrested its driver and cleaner identified as Gorakh Ram and Bajran Ram, both a resident of Barmer in Rajasthan.

In other raids, Banka police seized a truck from the Bhagalpur-Hansdiha national highway near a high school and recovered 518 cartons (6823 litres IMFL) worth Rs.70 lakh and arrested his driver identified as Kisan Ram, a resident of Barmer in Rajasthan.