Muzaffarpur: A black Honda City car, seized in connection with a liquor smuggling case, was stolen from the premises of Rampur Hari police station in Muzaffarpur late on Tuesday night. The incident, caught on CCTV cameras installed at the police station, has sparked a search operation to recover the vehicle and apprehend the thief.
According to police officials, on June 11, Rampur Hari station in-charge Dilip Kumar Yadav received a tip-off regarding a liquor consignment being transported in a car by Santosh Kumar Yadav, a resident of Gosaipur. Acting on the information, the police raided the Tengraha (Mallatoli) area, where they found an abandoned black car. Upon inspection, 54 litres of liquor were recovered from the vehicle, which was then seized and brought to the police station.
However, in a major lapse, the seized car was stolen from the police station around 2 am on June 18. CCTV footage from the premises captured the thief in the act, leading to an ongoing search for both the individual and the vehicle. Senior Superintendent of Police Sushil Kumar confirmed that a probe has been launched and any police personnel found guilty of negligence will face disciplinary action.
This is not the first such incident in Muzaffarpur. In March, a large consignment of liquor disappeared from Bela police station during a destruction drive. Investigations later revealed the involvement of a private clerk and a contractor, who, along with labourers, loaded 17 boxes of liquor into a car and escaped while the station in-charge was briefly away. The missing liquor was later recovered from the Dhiranpatti area, and the officer in charge, Ranjana Verma, was suspended.
Authorities are now relying on technical surveillance and human intelligence to recover the stolen vehicle from Rampur Hari station and bring the culprit to justice.
