BJP MP son violates prohibition, arrested

Patna: Police action against BJP MP’s son for consuming liquor has triggered a political storm in the state.

Opposition parties on Monday while terming the prohibition law as “drama” blamed the government for targeting “only people belonging to backward community”.

Gaya MP Hari Manjhi’s son Rahul Manjhi, along with his friend, was arrested by the police in a drunken state on Sunday and was sent to Gaya central jail for violating prohibition law.

Reacting sharply, Hari Manjhi on Monday accused the police of falsely implicating his son in the liquor case.

He said, “I was the one who had informed the police about illegal liquor trade in the area but instead of acting against the mafia they arrest my son in a false case.”

Bihar was declared a dry state by chief minister Nitish Kumar on April 5, 2016. According to reports over 23 lakh litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor has so far been seized.

The state government had created a separate wing in the police department to ensure proper implementation of prohibition in the state.

Liquor prohibition was the first major announcement by Nitish Kumar after he was sworn in as chief minister in 2015 following an emphatic election victory.

It was a promise he had made to a group of women who had complained about liquor addiction in rural areas.