Bihar: Liquor mafia holds police, excise team hostage, 14 arrested
Darpan News Desk IANS, 06 Apr, 2023 11:22 AM
Patna, April 6 (IANS) At least 14 people have been arrested for holding hostage sleuths of district and excise department who had gone to raid liquor mafia in Bihar's Bagha police district.
The accused also misbehaved with female constables, an official said.
On Wednesday night, a team of district police and excise department went to Dharauli Dhangar Toli village and arrested a woman, Gayatri Devi, along with four liters of country-made liquor.
The sleuths have taken Gayatri in police van to go to the police station. However, the villagers attacked them and managed to release the accused. They also held hostage the entire team headed by inspector Prabhunath Singh.
When senior police officers received the information, they sent a heavy contingent of police force from Patkhauli outpost, Naurangia police station and Laukaria police station in the village and managed to rescue the team.
"We have registered an FIR against Gayatri Devi and other accused. Fourteen persons were arrested in this connection," said an officer of Laukaria police station.
The Chief Minister said the government is fully sensitive towards checking cross-border infiltration in Punjab. He said Punjab Police is constantly in touch with the Border Security Force (BSF) and other agencies for this purpose.
While briefing the officers, the DGP said the topmost priority of the government, as directed by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, is to further strengthen the fight against drugs to make Punjab a drug-free state, besides eliminating the gangster culture, maintaining law and order, and detection of crime.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur announced Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased, whereas Rs 15,000 as immediate relief for the injured. He said free treatment would be provided to the injured.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday carried out his first Cabinet expansion by inducting five legislators, including second-time MLA Aman Arora, into his council of ministers. The expansion came in less than four months of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sweeping to victory in the Assembly elections by winning 92 seats of the 117 seats.
The police have so far managed to nab four of the accused, including one woman, who have been identified as Gurjant Singh (31), Navjot Singh (30), Satpal Singh (28) and Gurpreet Kaur (30).
The ambidextrous sharpshooter, identified as Ankit alias Chhota, a resident of Sonipat in Haryana, was most desperate to commit the crime."He fired simultaneously from two pistols in his two hands," H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Special Commissioner (Special Cell), said during a media briefing.
