Bihar police take 'sweet' revenge

PATNA: Police in Bihar have reaped a sweet harvest - millions worth of sugarcane grown illegally by gangsters on government land.

"Police have harvested cash crops (sugarcane) grown by two notorious gangsters on government land to target their source of income," said Vikash Vaibhav, the superintendent of police in Bagaha district, about 300 km from Patna.

Police expect that the harvested cash crops would fetch nearly Rs.5 million for the state exchequer. It is said that the gangsters used to purchase sophisticated weapons from the money they received by selling sugarcane in Bagaha.

"The police action to harvest sugarcane in over 200 acres of land sends a loud and clear message - to hit the financial backbone of the notorious gangsters operating in such areas," Vaibhav said.

According to police sources, notorious gangsters have grabbed thousands of acres of land in the state and planted paddy, wheat, oil seeds, pulses and cash crops like sugarcane, potato and onion to earn huge sums of money.

Abhyanand, the additional director general at the police headquarters here, said police are likely to act similarly against criminals in other places in the state to check the flow of money to criminals and free government land from their clutches.