270 days after Bihar liquor ban, major crimes up 13%

January 12, 2017

Patna, Jan 12: During a recent visit to Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his alcohol ban policy in Bihar. He said: “I greet Nitish Kumar from the core of my heart for launching a campaign against liquor. But, this work (prohibition) would not be a grand success only by efforts of Nitish Kumar or one party. All the political parties, social organisations and citizens have to participate in it to make it a ‘jan-jan ka andolan‘ (people’s movement).”

crimeIn April 2016, Kumar announced a ban on the sale and consumption of country liquor in the state. The ban was one of Kumar’s key poll promises made to women voters–who rallied behind him strongly, as this Mint report indicates–during the 2015 assembly elections.

Thirty days after the ban, Kumar claimed that the crime was down 27% , according to his analysis of crime data from April 2016 and April 2015.

Nine months–or 270 days–into the ban, an IndiaSpend analysis of Bihar Police crime data, reveals that cognizable crime–which the police can investigate without a magistrate’s order–rose 13% between April and October 2016, from 14,279 in April to 16,153 in October (latest available data).

In other words, the liquor ban does not correlate with a drop in crime, a primary reason for the new law, which came into being despite the Patna High Court holding it violative of the Constitution because it denied citizens their right to privacy under Article 21.

Conviction of criminals in Bihar had declined 68%, from 14,311 in 2010 to 4,513 in 2015, and cognizable crimes rose 42% over the same period, IndiaSpend reported in May 2016.

Bihar has a lower crime rate than more prosperous states with fewer people, such as Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, mainly due to under-reporting, IndiaSpend reported in May 2016.

The Patna High Court had quashed the alcohol ban in September 2016, terming the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act 2016, “illegal”. The new Bill provided punishment that included arrests of all adults in the family if anyone stores or consumes alcohol. Those flouting the ban face up to 10 years in jail, and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh. If a government bill is struck down by the courts, legislative sanction can convert it into a law that the courts cannot interfere with. That is what happened in Bihar.

Within two days of the high court order, the Bihar government notified a new law, the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, ensuring that the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol, including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and “spiced” and domestic liquor, continued in the state, even though the high court said a ban was “ultra vires of the constitution”.

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zakir
 - 
Thursday, 12 Jan 2017

Let other states take the same initiate if they really support women..

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Agencies
February 6,2020

Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha President Ranjit Bachchan was shot dead on Sunday because of an extra-marital relationship of his second wife.

Lucknow Police Commissioner Sujit Pandey said at a press conference here on Thursday that Ranjit Bachchan's second wife Smriti Srivastava, her paramour Dipendra and driver Sanjit Gautam have been arrested in connection with the case. All three were held on Thursday, while the shooter -- Jitendra -- is yet to be arrested.

Pandey said that Smriti wanted a divorce from Ranjit Bachchan and their case was pending in the family court since 2016. While she was keen to marry Dipendra, Ranjit Bachchan was unwilling to leave her.

"On January 17, Ranjit had met Smriti and even slapped her, which became the provocation for the murder," he said.

The Police Commissioner said that during investigation, the police had probed all possible angles, including a terror angle.

"We found there were no financial disputes, no property disputes and no terror angle to the case. It emerged that Smriti had an affair with Dipendra and wanted to leave Ranjit Bachchan, who had four criminal cases against him. Through technical and electronic surveillance, we found the connection between Smriti, Dipendra, driver Sanjit and the shooter Jitendra," he said.

Ranjeet Bachchan, 40, who had founded the Vishwa Hindu Mahasabha, was shot in the head on Sunday morning while his brother Aditya Srivastava was injured in the attack by the assailant who also snatched their mobile phones.

The attacker had covered himself in a shawl and was on foot. The police had released CCTV footages showing a suspect and announced a cash reward of Rs 50,000 for providing information.

Four police personnel, including a sub-inspector, were suspended for alleged laxity and a case was registered at the Hazratganj po

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News Network
June 6,2020

Kota (Rajasthan), Jun 6: A 14-year-old boy allegedly hanged himself to death on early Saturday morning shortly after he stopped playing PUBG throughout the night and went to sleep, said police. 

Railway Colony police station’s in-charge Hansraj Meena said the boy, a class 9 student and son of an Army man, was found hanging from the grill of the ventilator in his bedroom on early Saturday morning. 

Meena said according to the boy’s family members, the boy had downloaded the gaming programme on his mother’s mobile phone only three days back but had been playing the game virtually continuously for the last three days. 

He kept on playing the game till 3 am in a room in which his brother was studying, said Meena, adding the boy went to adjoining to sleep after that. His body was found hanging from the ventilator’s grill in the morning, he said, adding the boy was rushed to MBS Hospital, where he was declared “brought dead”. 

No suicide note was recovered in the case, the SHO said. The boy lived in Gandhi Colony in the city along with his mother and brother, while his father, a Tamil Nadu native and Army man, is currently posted in Arunachal Pradesh. The boy’s body has been kept in hospital’s morgue for the postmortem, the SHO said.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: A young woman was forced to drink liquor allegedly by her husband after which he along with four friends assaulted, burnt her with cigarette butts and raped her in front of her five year-old son, police said on Friday.

All the five, who were taken into custody earlier, have been arrested. The shocking incident occurred in the state capital last night.

The incident came to light after the 25-year-old woman, approached police and complained against her husband and his four friends.

A case has been registered against the five accused for kidnapping, assaulting and gangrape.

Since the incident took place in front of the child, a case under Protection of children from sexual offices Act has also been charged against the accused.

Meanwhile, State health and family welfare minister K K Shailaja asked the state police chief to take stringentction against the culprits as "such cruelty happened in front of her child."

The Kerala State Women's Commission on its own registered a case and sought report from the Thiruvananthapuram Rural SP.

She managed to escape from there and pleaded for help from a young man, who saw in heran inebriatedstate, and took her to her house and informed police.

The man later told some television channels that she was crying, had injuries on her face and pleaded for help.

Police have recorded the statement of the woman, who was admitted to a government hospital here and later discharged.

She had also stated that the men had tortured her using cigarette butts.

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