NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

Highway dacoities on the rise in Bihar

Soroor Ahmed in Patna

The dismissal of Lalit Yadav from the cabinet, for allegedly torturing and illegally detaining a truck driver, has brought to the fore the spurt in highway dacoities in Bihar.

Though Yadav allegedly tortured the driver and cleaner, suspecting their involvement in the looting of a truck, the vehicle was recovered by the police from Muzaffarpur district on June 19, and some persons were even arrested in the case.

Two junior officials were suspended a week later as one of those arrested escaped from police custody.

Dinanath Baitha, the driver, and Karu Ram, the cleaner, may have undergone the worst form of torture, but they were lucky to have survived at the hands of the highway dacoits.

In the last few years, according to Bihar Motor Transport Association office-bearers, 200 truck drivers, cleaners, owners and transporters have been killed in the state by dacoits.

The most bizarre incident occurred on National Highway 29, near Patna last year, when seven persons were killed and a truck was looted. Besides the driver and cleaner, the businessman whose goods were being transported was killed.

Another incident on Grant Trunk Road in Rohtas district claimed four lives.

The association and drivers blame the rise in dacoities on state transport commissioner Mahavir Prasad's decision to check vehicles at night. The decision led to dacoits posing as policemen, they said.

According to association general secretary Saghir Ahmed, drivers often park their vehicles at isolated spots, at sunset. Earlier, drivers plied their vehicles even at night and they would park near roadside motels.

Ahmed told rediff.com that the association was planning to move the high court against the transport department decision, which was ''against the spirit of the law''.

National highways in Bihar are some of the busiest in the country, but their condition is deplorable. The Union and state governments have failed to maintain and repair them, especially in the north, where floods are a ritual.

The Bihar government earns millions from road and vehicle taxes, but truckers alleged that the amount spent on roads was negligible.

There is a lot of vehicular movement in the minerally rich south.

Similarly, imported goods from Nepal are transported by truck via Bihar. Besides, all trucks on their way to the seven north-eastern states have to pass through Bihar.

According to an owner, stolen trucks are sold at Mallick Bazaar in Calcutta.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report