Ex JD(U) MLA arrested for violating liquor prohibition; suspended

Patna, July 14: Former JD(U) MLA Lalan Ram has been arrested and suspended from the party after he was caught on camera consuming beer and deriding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's move to impose prohibition in the state.

He was arrested late last evening from a village under Amba police station area in Aurangabad district by a joint excise and police team.

Ram, who was MLA from Kutumba assembly constituency in Aurangabad district, was seen purportedly consuming alcohol and cursing the Chief Minister for implementing prohibition in the state. He was quoted as saying that "nobody will follow him (Nitish Kumar) wherever he will go."

"Ram has been arrested on the basis of the video in which he was seen consuming beer. It has also been shown on various TV channels and published in newspapers," Assistant Excise Commissioner O P Mandal said.

Mandal said that Ram has been booked for violating the provisions of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act 2016. The video, which went viral, was also shown on various TV channels yestersday. Following his arrest on the basis of the purpoted video, JD(U) today suspended him from the party.

The former MLA was the organising secretary of the party's state unit and its organising in-charge of Aurangabad district.

"We have suspended ex-MLA Lalan Ram from the party with immediate effect for his involvement in such activity which is against the state government's prohibition policy," state unit president Bashishtha Narayan Singh said.

Singh said that Ram has also been relinquished of all party posts. Earlier, JD(U) MLC Manorama Devi had been jailed after liquor was recovered from her residence in Gaya. An FIR was also lodged against Narkatiaganj's Congress MLA Vinay Verma after he was shown with a promise to offer liquor to his guests in a video.

PTI