Bihar Panchayat official faces probe over 'liquor party' in office
Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Mar, 2022 10:23 AM
Patna, March 25 (IANS) The Patna district administration has launched an enquiry against the Secretary of a Panchayat for allegedly organising a liquor party in a government office, an official said on Friday.
Block Development Officer, Bihta, Vishal Anand, has written a letter to the Panchayati Raj Ministry for action against accused Panchayat Secretary Bhim Kumar.
"A video of a Panchayat secretary surfaced before district administration on Friday where he was consuming liquor and a semi-nude girl was also present there. Based on this video, we have written a complaint to the Panchayati Raj Ministry to investigate this matter and take action against the accused.
"The district administration has also initiated a separate inquiry into the matter. We will take legal action based on the investigation report," Anand said.
As per the video uploaded on social media, and not authenticated by IANS, Bhim Kumar is seen consuming liquor along with other people including a girl in a semi-nude position at his office-cum-residence, allocated to him by the state government.
Meanwhile, Bhim Kumar claimed that the video was doctored and someone is trying to malign his image. He said that he was never involved in organising a liquor party in his office or any other place.
In another incident, Excise Department officials arrested a CEO of a software company for procuring liquor.
"We have conducted a raid at flat number 505 of Mundeshwari apartment located at Rajiv Nagar locality and arrested a person named Abhishek Kumar in a drunken stage on Thursday night. We have also recovered a liquor bottle from the flat," Assistant Commissioner Kishore Kumar Shah said.
The SKM also reiterated that the name, banner or platform of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will not be used by any political party or candidate in the run-up to the Assembly polls in Punjab, scheduled on February 20.
Appearing for the Punjab government, Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram argued that Majithia has gone into hiding after the rejection of his bail plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and now he is appearing through counsel.
Interestingly, the move comes a week after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and also allowed issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually.
The incident took place on Wednesday and the accused are said to be illicit liquor sellers in the area. It has been alleged that the woman was also gang-raped. A video of the incident showed the woman being attacked.
Both Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have urged Rahul Gandhi to announce a CM face well ahead of the polls, instead of going with the collective leadership.
The ministry of external affairs organised the summit virtually on Thursday which was attended by the heads of all five Central Asian countries -- Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan.
