Tens of thousands jailed in Indian state under strict ban on alcohol but have the poor been disproportionately targeted?
Media reports have hinted at a flourishing underground drinks network in Bihar, supplying anyone who can pay three or four times market price
Prem Prakash and his sharp-eyed team cause impatient queues at the border of India’s Bihar state where a hard-hitting alcohol ban has landed tens of thousands in jail and drawn the national spotlight.
Every rickshaw, every car, every bus crossing from neighbouring Jharkhand gets a thorough once-over at the Rajauli checkpoint from Superintendtent Prakash’s excise department team.
Bihar is a big, poor, rough-and-ready state with 100 million people. It also has India’s harshest prohibition regime: at least 71,000 people have since been imprisoned for alcohol consumption or possession, some for up to five years. It has not been a smooth transition.
While about 1 million litres of liquor have been seized by police since the legislation was brought in last year, local media report that much of it has disappeared, prompting authorities to investigate.
Officials caused consternation when they blamed rats for consuming some of the alcohol.
Last month, six men accused of selling liquor escaped prison after their guards dozed off. Authorities were forced to deny accusations the guards were drunk. But while some moan about the effectiveness of the ban and the police tactics used to back it, prohibition has become a vote-winner.
Now politicians in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu have demanded or promised similar schemes.