Patna: In an incident which shows how goons rule the roost in Bihar, a group of locals first pelted stones at a bike showroom owned by state minister Tej Pratap Yadav and threatened employees and then threatened the minister to withdraw complaint against them.
According to a police complaint filed on Monday, a local man had brought his scooter to the showroom-cum-service station near Kama Bigaha, Lalu-Rabri Distributors Pvt Ltd in Aurangabad city. When he came back to collect his two-wheeler, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the service and an argument soon broke out between him and showroom staff.
As the argument turned into a verbal spat, the man, Vikas Singh, called his friends and started pelting stones at the showroom, shattering the glass.
After the incident, showroom staff filed a complaint at the Nagarpalika police station. However, things took a serious turn when Tej Pratap, the elder brother of deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, received threatening phone calls from two numbers, warning him to drop the case.
Tej Pratap immediately filed another written complaint with the police. The police have launched an investigation into the matter and are looking for the culprits.
The incident brings forth what the ruling Mahagathbandhan government has been dismissing so far: the rising crime rate and mafia culture in Bihar.
Social activists and Opposition politicians, particularly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have alleged that crime rates have risen sharply in Bihar since chief minister Nitish Kumar walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and joined hands with Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in August last year.
BJP politicians have accused the grand alliance government of not taking effective steps to curb crimes in the state – which was once known for daylight loots and murders.
The number of serious crimes like murder, loot and kidnapping has increased in recent months. In recent weeks, at least four bank robberies have been reported in Motihari, Sonpur, Samastipur, and Jamui districts.