Patna, Nov 01 (UNI) Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the liquor ban was being enforced strictly in Bihar and those found violating the ban laws were being punished.
Mr Kumar told mediapersons here that complete liquor ban was enforced in Bihar in April 2016 on demands from women. Administration and policemen were doing good job in enforcing liquor ban strictly, he added.
The Chief Minister denied the allegation that liquor was easily available in Bihar despite enforcement of liquor ban law. Such allegation was baseless and few persons found engaged in violating liquor ban law were being nabbed and punished , he stressed.
Mr Kumar, responding to a query relating to deaths often being reported due to hooch tragedy in various parts of Bihar, said that he had been appealing to people not to consume alcohol. Those trying to get liquor illegally fell into trap of persons having vested interests and sometimes ended up consuming spurious liquor supplied by them, he pointed out.
He said that he had been regularly reviewing liquor ban but his focus was shifted on Covid-19 during Corona pandemic. A review meeting on liquor ban would be convened, he said adding that instructions had already been issued to authorities concerned to strictly enforce liquor ban, he added.
Mr Kumar said that policemen and other government personnel found guilty of laxity in enforcing liquor ban were being slapped stringent punishment. Sometimes they lost their jobs and also faced imprisonment, he added.
