As Bihar heads to Assembly polls, crime wave fuels law and order concerns

Patna: Back-to-back killings targeting businessmen, politicians, lawyers, teachers and ordinary citizens have raised serious concerns about Bihar’s law and order, with police blaming the surge on the widespread availability of illegal firearms and ammunition.

Over the past 10 days, a string of killings — including those of businessman Gopal Khemka, BJP leader Surendra Kumar, a 60-year-old woman, a shopkeeper, a lawyer, and a teacher — has rocked the poll-bound state.

According to the latest State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) data, the state recorded 1,376 murders with an average of 229 each month between January and June, compared to 2,786 in all of 2024 and 2,863 in 2023.

According to senior police officers, proliferation of firearms, which are illegally manufactured or procured without a valid license, coupled with unchecked availability of ammunition, have contributed to the recent spurt in violent crimes.

Bihar has consistently ranked among the top-five states in terms of violent crimes, including those involving firearms, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures. The state has held second position in violent crime rate in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022, NCRB data said.

Talking to a news agency, DGP Vinay Kumar, said, “Land disputes and property matters are the main reasons behind most of the killings. In such cases, the role of police is limited and it starts after the crime takes place. Our force has achieved a 100 per cent detection rate”.

The DGP, however, claimed that organised crime has come down compared to last year.

“Proliferation of firearms, illegally manufactured or procured without valid

licenses, coupled with unchecked availability of ammunition are issues which are being looked into by the authorities”, he said.

“A state with such a large population, having over 60 per cent population under the age of 30 and unemployed, is bound to be vulnerable to law and order problems”, Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Kundan Krishnan said.