A Bhabua special court in Bihar on Tuesday awarded 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to a Rajasthan-based smuggler for allegedly transporting liquor in the state of Bihar.
The accused, identified as Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Sikar district in Rajasthan was arrested by Bihar’s Durgawati police on September 7 this year along the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh border for allegedly transporting 5,787 litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), according to Kaimur superintendent of police (SP) Rakesh Kumar.
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Following his arrest, police completed the investigation and submitted a charge sheet on November 7 in the special excise court of additional district and sessions judge (ADJ) Sunil Kumar Choubey and recommended a speedy trial. Charges were framed against the accused and the trial commenced on November 15, 2022.
After examining at least six prosecution witnesses, the court found Dinesh Kumar guilty of illegal transportation and distribution of liquor under section 30a of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, (Section 30a provides the maximum punishment of life imprisonment). Bihar has been a dry state since 2016 after chief minister Nitish Kumar-led government imposed a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor.
Following his conviction, the court sentenced him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment with an additional ₹10 lakh fine failing to which two more years will be added to his sentence, additional public prosecutor Nishikant Nilesh who conducted the prosecution said.
In March last year, a Gopalganj court sentenced nine men to death and handed four women a life sentence for the sale and distribution of liquor in the state of Bihar. This was the first death sentence under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. However, the Patna high court acquitted all 13 accused in the Gopalganj hooch tragedy of 2016, in which 19 people lost their lives, noting that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
After the Gopalganj lower court’s verdict, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had said “piyoge to maroge” (you will die if you drink), a line he repeated after the recent deaths in Saran district due to the consumption of spurious liquor. In the past two weeks, over 70 persons have lost their lives in the Saran hooch tragedy.
