Food crisis hits Bihar criminals!

Manoj ChaurasiaPATNA, May 18: Mr George Bush’s claim about Indians eating more may be a subject of debate but one thing looks very clear: thieves in Bihar are undoubtedly very badly hit by the global food crisis and their prime concern has been to fill their belly rather than laying their hands on cash or valuables!

Several instances of theft reported in the last fortnight in the state capital where the thieves had gorged themselves thoroughly at their victims’ expense before making away with household valuables have bemused the state authorities, who are already concerned over rising incidents of theft and robbery in the state.

On the night of 7 May, some thieves broke into the house of Mr Dilip Kumar Sinha located in the Danapur area of the state capital, and finding the owners absent, they made themselves thoroughly at home.

According to police, the thieves baked potato chips and other food in the kitchen and enjoyed a heavy breakfast. Apparently intent on making it a memorable event, the “uninvited guests” also played the CD and watched a movie while their accomplices prepared breakfast in the kitchen. Later, they sped away with cash and other valuables on a Hero Honda motorcycle parked inside the house.

A similar incident occurred in the Gola Road locality a few days back. In this incident, the thieves after breaking into the house of Mr Nawal Kishore Tiwari, an LIC agent, kneaded dough and cooked ‘puris’ to eat their fill before laying their hands on cash and other belongings. Here too the family was away from the house, allowing the thieves to enjoy themselves all night long.

Then there was this incident on 12 May in Rohtas district when a group of some 25 criminals, apparently badly affected by food crisis, looted some 100 sacks of wheat from a goods train.

Reports said the criminals managed to stop the goods train near Pahleja station on the Gaya-Moghulsarai line of the East Central railway by turning the signal red and then broke open a bogy to unload the sacks of wheat. Later, the police recovered the looted wheat from a tractor which had no registration number.

These incidents aside, it is a common occurrence in the countryside, particularly in districts like Aurangabad, Gaya, Bhabhua and Rohtas where agriculture has been badly hit due to drought-like situation. that starving outlaws and extremists often sneak into the houses of villagers at the dead of night and force them to feed them.

Maoists who have their hideouts in the jungle also often randomly enter villages and demand food from the residents, who oblige fearing their wrath. “We are forced to close our doors shortly after nightfall as Maoists have been knocking on our doors and asking us for food,” says a villager of Ketaki in Deo block of Aurangabad district.

Prominent social scientist Dr Shaibal Gupta sees in such incidents the increasing disparities among social groups more than the alarming global food crisis. The petty thieves and criminals usually belong to the disadvantaged sections who suffer from very low food intake, he points out. "Therefore they try to bridge the gap whenever they get any opportunity".

The Bihar government in the meantime has been seriously alarmed by the sudden spurt in incidents of thefts and attacks by criminals in recent times . In the last fortnight itself, more than a dozen localities of the state capital alone were targeted by petty thieves and goons.

So alarmed was the government that the chief minister Mr Nitish Kumar held an emergency meeting with senior police officials at his residence early last week and directed them to contain these incidents. The chief minister reportedly expressed strong anguish over the police failure to check these incidents even in the state capital.