One reason to pray this Chat puja

The only time of the year Patna MC seems to be on its toes each year is around Diwali and Chat puja. This year, however, things are differen...

The only time of the year Patna MC seems to be on its toes each year is around Diwali and Chat puja. This year, however, things are different. The workers of Patna Municipal Corporation are on an indefinite strike since one week and ESMA has made no difference. With two days to go before the Chat, Patna is waiting for a cleanup. Devotees can pray, this time for Operation Cleanup.

No FIRs, no crime

Crime graphs available with the police indicate that Bihar is a peaceful state 8212; the graphs show that crime rate here is less than in Delhi or Maharashtra. Some officials even argue that media has created a false image, portraying the state as lawless. But the reason for the 8216;low8217; crime became clear when a journalist, working with a national English daily, went to file an FIR after he was robbed of his wallet on Diwali. The inspector on duty said: 8216;8216;We will not file an FIR. That would increase the crime figures under my jurisdiction.8217;8217; After persuasion, he agreed on one condition: 8216;8216;Your FIR should say you dropped it.8217;8217; After four hours of tension, and a 8216;sifarish8217;, the official obliged. 8216;8216;I am doing this so that you don8217;t write about it,8221; he said. No wonder, the state is peaceful!

Salaam, inspector sahib

The inspector seems to be the most powerful person in the Bihar police. So much so that last week in Patna, an inspector made an adverse station diary entry against a new city SP. When SP Shaleen, during his visit to Kadam Kuan station, questioned the subordinates why a person taken into custody the previous day was released without his approval, the subordinates, instead of answering him, threw back a challenge at him. Pramod Kumar, the officer in-charge, even made a remark against the SP in the station diary. Inspectors, say police officials, enjoy direct access to the powers that be in Bihar. Perhaps that explains what former state DGP D.P. Ojha meant last year, when he said: 8216;8216;The command structure of the police has been totally destroyed.8221;

Congmen try shining

With the Congress leaving seats for its ally RJD, the presence of the Congress in the state has been virtually negligible since several years. But the coming of the party to power at the Centre has certainly changed the profile of the state Congressmen: They have begun starching their faded kurtas and have started making public appearances. With the coming of Bhuta Singh as the new Governor, Congressmen have got one more place to gather8212; the Raj Bhawan. AICC secretary in charge of Bihar, Harikesh Bahadur, visits the state frequently. AICC secretary from Bihar, Shakeeluzamman, put up a show of strength recently. And now, with the number of seat aspirants shooting up, the party will have to bargain hard with ally Laloo Prasad Yadav in the coming Assembly elections.

Jailed gangsters

Their8217;s is a spirit no wall can suppress. Gangsters seem to operate their extortion racket from behind the bars in the state. High Court orders, banning use of cell phones in jails, seem to have made no difference. As soon as the Beur jail authorities installed a GSM jammer, the relatively new CDMA technology came in.

A gangster suspected to be involved in the killing of a doctor in Patna, is learnt to be using a phone. After the doctor, who refused to pay a ransom was killed, at least a dozen more doctors in Patna claim to have received extortion calls. 8216;What you have seen is a trailer,8221; they have been told.