by Alok Mohit
PATNA: The mass shooting on a 30-km stretch along NH 28 and 31 in Bihar’s Begusarai district that left one dead and 11 others injured on Tuesday has raised question mark over chief minister Nitish Kumar’s claim of according top priority to law and order “at any cost”.
Even as the police were groping in the dark for clues about the culprits and the motive behind the Begusarai incident, unknown criminals shot dead a businessman in Nathnagar police station area of Bhagalpur district on Wednesday.
Bhagalpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Babu Ram said the victim had four bullet injuries. “The assailants came with the aim to murder the person,” he said.
In yet another incident, manager of a private hospital Ravi Ranjan and another employee of the health facility, Subhash, were kidnapped from Kankarbagh in Patna. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh after abducting them. The police, however, arrested three kidnappers them from Chapra town in Saran district after tracking them with the help of mobile tower location and safely rescued the victims.
The escape of three prisoners earlier by drilling a hole in the court lock-up at Barh in Patna district also pointed towards the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
The incidents have come when the chief minister is confronted with a tough situation as the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been trying hard to dent his image by raising the narrative of ‘Jungle Raj’ (lawlessness) returning to Bihar with the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) government coming to power last month.
The recent spurt in cases of crime has undoubtedly caused embarrassment to Nitish Kumar, who is being projected by some of his partymen as challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
While the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to criticise the Mahaagatbandha government in Bihar, the chief minister had last week said stray incidents were not a reflection of the overall law and order situation in the state. “What Jungle Raj? Maintaining law and order has been the priority of our government. There is Janata Raj (in the state),” he had said.
Meanwhile, according to data shared with media by additional director general (ADG) of police Jitendra Singh Gangwar, the Bihar police have arrested more than 1 lakh people for various crimes till July 2022.
He said the number of persons arrested this year was higher than in the last two years and added that the 2022 figures could rise to 2.70 lakh by the end of the year.
