A team of excise officials that went to conduct a raid in Rajdeo Nagar of Bihar’s Bhojpur district was forced to flee after they were beaten up by the locals. The incident took place on Sunday, April 4, when the team arrived to conduct a search operation in the area.
According to reports, the excise team was tipped off about the presence of liquor in the area, which prompted them to conduct the raid. While as per the villagers, the excise team tried to arrest a man who had come home for a ritual related to the death of a family member and the team members also assaulted women. This led to a clash between the locals and the excise team.
The six-member excise team, led by Inspector Alok Kumar Saigal, reportedly came under attack following this clash. The villagers threw stones at them while the excise team charged at the mob with their lathis in order to disperse it.
The team members were securely rescued by the Sahar police station staff as soon as the police station chief learned about the event, according to Bhojpur Superintendent of Police Pramod Kumar. Kumar promised that “action will be taken against all who would be found guilty after filing FIR.”
The locals blocked the Ara-Arwal road to demand action against the excise squad following the altercation, which left 6 people injured. The injured excise team members were treated at the community health centre in Sahar while the villagers injured in the clash were treated at a private clinic.
This is not the first time that such an incident has taken place in Bihar. In January of this year, a team of excise officials was beaten up by villagers in the Arrah district while conducting a similar raid.
In December 2022, A team of the excise department was attacked by people running the illegal liquor trade in West Champaran.
Earlier in November 2022, a team was attacked by unknown miscreants in Muzaffarpur’s Pakri village after the team reached there to conduct a raid on the local liquor mafia.
Notably, the sale, consumption, and distribution of liquor is banned in the state of Bihar under the prohibition policy of the state government.