Drunk teenage son held, Gaya BJP MP cries foul

A senior BJP leader felt the pangs of the Bihar Prohibition Act when his teenaged son was arrested by police for boozing. Once it was confirmed through medical test that Rahul Kumar was drunk,  police produced him in a court and he was remanded to jail, but his father and Gaya MP Hari Manjhi suspected conspiracy and cried foul.

Contesting the medical report Manjhi, who represented Gaya reserved seat several times, said his 18-year-old son was not drunk and had gone to the village for resolving a dispute.

“This is a political conspiracy against me and to defame me. My son had not consumed liquor and he had been implicated in a false case just to damage my political career,” said Manjhi who claimed supporting prohibition.

But his own party leader and Bihar Minister Vinod Narayan Jha said there is rule of law in Bihar and nobody violating law will be spared.

Rahul was arrested on Sunday late night when the police went to arrest two bootleggers Bigan Manjhi and Munarik Choudhary at Nawan village. “He was found drunk,” said Bodh Gaya police station incharge Shiv Kumar Mahto.   

Gaya SSP Garima Mallik said, “Rahul was arrested when he was drinking with one of his friends at Nawan village. The consumption of liquor was proved in medical test.”

Over two years ago total prohibition had been enforced in Bihar which was supported by many of the political parties even  though some were against its stringent provisions and punishments. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on completion of two years of prohibition last fortnight said that about 1.28 lakh had so far been  arrested out of which more than 8,000 were in jail.

But the accusations are flying thick and fast that the closure of legal business had opened up different ways for illegal trade, smuggling from neighbouring States and home delivery of liquor making the banned alcohol easily available and the manufacturing of country made liquor was stil going in the countryside.

Leader of opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav alleged that mostly dalits and backward caste people were being harassed and jailed and majority of the 1.28 lakh people arrested belonged to these sections. Former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi said prohibition was total farce and liquor was freely available.

As far as Rahul’s case is concerned, it is not the first time that thee MP’s teenaged son was caught drunk. In December 2016, after the imposition of the Act, he was caught creating noisy scene in  a drunken state at the gate of medical college in Gaya and a case No 229/16 was filed against him. At that time too his father had rushed to defend him pleading it was a political conspiracy.