Days after 34 houses belonging to the Dalit community were set ablaze over a land dispute in Nawada district, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Saturday (September 21, 2024) that the number of killings over land had been coming down in the State from 60% of all murders recorded by the State Crime Records Bureau as of March to 46.69% at present.
“This is a good thing. The work of land survey and settlement should be completed speedily so that the incidents of crime related to land disputes can be eliminated. The administration and the police should keep a close watch on anti-social elements,” Mr. Kumar said at a high-level review meeting of the Home Department at his official residence.
In the Nawada incident, both victims and accused belong to the Dalit community.
The police have lodged an FIR against 28 people and arrested 15. The State Government has given a compensation of ₹1 lakh each to the families whose houses were gutted.
Mr. Kumar said the State police had 2,29,139 posts with 1,06,436 personnel on the rolls. He told officials to fill the vacant posts soon. “There should not be any negligence in tackling crime,” he added.
“The police have an important role in maintaining law and order, and recruitment to the vacant posts as soon as possible will help in maintaining law and order,” he said.
Mr. Kumar said women had been given 35% reservation in the State police since 2013, and the number of women personnel had reached nearly 30,000.
Enforcement of law and order was a top priority of the Government, he said. “Do not show any negligence in patrolling; intensify night patrolling. To make night and foot patrolling more effective, senior officials should visit the areas and do surprise inspections. Everyone should work with full dedication to maintain law and order. Strict action will be taken against police personnel who show negligence in work. Speed up the crime investigation work and complete it on time so that action can be taken against the culprits soon,” he said.
Principal Secretaries Deepak Kumar, S. Siddharth, Arvind Kumar Chaudhary and other officials were present.
Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has been attacking Mr. Kumar over the law-and-order situation for the past one month. After the recent incident, Mr. Yadav said there is a “jungle raj” in Bihar.
Published - September 21, 2024 10:54 pm IST
