Bihar cops seize booze, get drunk as bootleggers flee

AS THE POLICEMEN FELL INTO A DRUNKEN STUPOR, THE SIX BOOTLEGGERS BROKE THE IRON GRILL OF THE DETENTION ROOM WINDOW AND FLED

PATNA: If liquor landed this dirty dozen behind bars in dry Bihar, it was also the reason for their successful escape a few hours later.

It all began when six alleged bootleggers — Prahlad Mahto, Hemlal Mahto, Mukesh Patel, Amlesh Mian, Md Haroon and Saddam Hussain — were arrested along the Indo-Nepal border and remanded in the excise department lock-up at Motihari in East Champaran district on Tuesday. Just when all hope seemed lost, the god of alcoholism came to their rescue.

The special auxiliary police (SAP) jawans guarding the bootleggers allegedly consumed bottle after bottle of liquor recovered from them, before falling into a drunken stupor later that night. Taking advantage of the situation, the suspects used their combined strength to break the iron grill of a detention room window and flee into the darkness.

When the six SAP jawans finally woke up the next morning, it was to a throbbing headache and the sight of a depressingly empty lock-up. The escapees were supposed to be produced in court the same day. “This was a case of sheer negligence on the part of the SAP jawans, and we will take strict action against them. I have informed the district magistrate about the incident,” said Motihari excise superintendent Keshav Prasad, adding that they do not have an exact count of the liquor bottles seized.

The excise department has lodged a complaint with the town police station. “We will try to arrest the absconders as soon as possible,” said East Champaran superintendent of police Upendra Prasad Sharma. The six bootleggers were reportedly arrested from Sugauli, Raxaul and Ghorasahan — three different locations along the Indo-Nepal border — on charges of selling liquor.