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.
Lt Gen Aujla, an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, was commissioned in December 1987 and has had an illustrious military career spanning 35 years during which he has held varied prestigious command, staff and instructional appointments.
The area around the Intelligence Bureau office has been sealed and investigation is in progress. A bomb disposal and forensic squads have been positioned at the spot. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann spoke to Director General of Police V.K. Bhawra and sought details about the incident.
Notably, the police detained several people, including party workers, who were not allowing the SDMC to carry out the demolition drive at Shaheen Bagh. After the agitation was quelled, the bulldozer moved forward to demolish the illegal encroachment, an iron structure in front of a building. It is at this juncture that Khan reached the spot and was seen speaking to the officials.
Punjab shares a 553-km barbed-wire fenced international border with Pakistan which is under the vigil of nearly 135 BSF battalions. The drug network operates along the Afghanistan-Pakistan-India route.
Police are looking at this angle. The incident took place near Kengeri at 1 a.m. and the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals. According to the police, the bus had first hit the 4-feet tall road divider and then rammed into the Namma Metro Pillar number 545.
Chairing a meeting of the Special Task Force (STF) team led by its chief Harpreet Sidhu here, Mann said neither political persons nor officers would be spared if found conniving with the drug mafia. He told the police officers to work freely without any political pressure with a sharpened focus to make Punjab a drug-free state.
