SHOs will be taken to task for liquor sale: CM

Bhagalpur: Only months after he went on record to fix the responsibility of anything going wrong on local police, chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday warned station house officers (SHOs) that they would be denied posting in a police station for ten years if they were found lax in enforcing prohibition in their respective areas.
"Suspension and legal action apart, SHOs will be debarred from posting in a police station for ten years if liquor is reported to be sold or consumed in the areas under their jurisdiction," the CM said while interacting with women activists and social workers at a convention on prohibition.
While announcing the government decision to ban loquor in the state, the CM had in November said local policemen mostly knew who was violating law and where, and that corrective measures needed to taken in this regard. State DGP P K Thakur was present at the function on the state secretariat premises at which the CM made the remark last year.
At least 8,000 women, including 6,0000 from Bhagalpur district and 2,000 from neighbouring Banka district, attended the meet organized by the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project, Jeevika, at the Sandy's compound here.
The CM heard some of the women activists, including one each from Pirpanity, Naugachhia, Sultanganj and Kahalgaon subdivisions, as they spoke about their struggle against alcoholism in their family and village.
Besides taking feedback on the enforcement of prohibition from the women in their respective areas, Nitish also held an appraisal meeting with the officials of the Bhagalpur division and reviewed the progress made in the execution of various development schemes. The first such appraisal meeting was held for the officials of Patna division in Patna on Monday.