The NDA government in Bihar has announced plans to establish Special Investigation Teams (SITs) in each district, granting them the authority to shoot criminals found carrying illegal arms in public, TOI reported.
Revenue and Land Reforms Minister Dilip Kumar Jaiswal of the BJP allegedly made this statement in a viral video clip.
“…The state government has issued orders to police to shoot dead criminals found moving on the streets with illegal arms and ammunition,” Jaiswal allegedly said in a video from an election rally in Rupaul on Tuesday.
He added that the state cabinet has also decided to form separate police teams exclusively for this purpose.
“Koi apradhi nahin bachega ab (No criminal will survive now),” Jaiswal allegedly stated in the clip while campaigning for JD(U) candidate Kaladhar Prasad Mandal for the July 10 bypolls in Rupaul.
The seat was vacated by JD(U) legislator Bima Bharti, who resigned to contest the LS polls on an RJD ticket, which she lost.
Bima Bharti, who has previously been elected five times from the seat, announced yesterday that she will run for the seat on the RJD ticket.
She had previously declared yesterday that she would speak with RJD supremo Lalu Yadav and that she or her husband, Avdesh Mandal, would run for the seat.
“…Today evening we will get the symbol (Rupauli by-poll) …There is a lot of difference between Lok Sabha & Vidhan Sabha elections…Either I or my husband will contest the election…,” said Bima Bharti.
The Bihar minister’s alleged remarks have sparked protests from the opposition Grand Alliance, led by the RJD and Congress, who called the move as an attempt to impose a “police raj” in the state.
The opposition reacted strongly to Jaiswal’s alleged remarks, with the RJD accusing the minister of speaking like a “goonda” and undermining the judicial process.
RJD spokesperson Chitranjan Gagan said, “The minister’s statement means he doesn’t have faith in the judicial process. Whether a person is a criminal or not is decided by the court. How can the police decide about it?”
Gagan also expressed concerns about potential police abuses and asserted that the Bihar government has failed to control crime.
(With TOI inputs)
