About 36.3 lakh litres of liquor seized in dry Bihar in 2025: DGP

Patna: The authorities seized more than 36.3 lakh litres of liquor in 2025 in Bihar, where alcoholic beverages were banned nine years ago, and arrested 1.25 lakh people for violating the prohibition law.

The seized quantity included 18.99 lakh litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 17.39 lakh litres of country spirit, Director General of Police Vinay Kumar said on Friday.

The authorities arrested 1,25,456 people involved in violation of the prohibition law last year, whereas the figure in 2024 was 1,21,671. “The number of arrests in 2025 is three per cent more than that in 2024,” the DGP told reporters here.

The Bihar government enacted a law in April 2016 prohibiting the manufacture, trade, storage, transportation, sale, and consumption of liquor in the state. However, despite stringent provisions of the Act, transport of liquor and hooch deaths have been reported a number of times since then. “In order to prevent hooch incidents, a special vigilance is being kept on spirit traders,” Kumar said, adding that a total of 1,31,628 litres of illicit liquor was seized in 2025.

The police chief said that no major hooch tragedies occurred during 2025, but seizures and arrests related to prohibition increased by 25 to 30 per cent. “We are also targeting the assets of those involved in the illegal liquor trade to provide a financial deterrent,” he said.

Kumar said that the Special Operation Group (SOG) conducted a total of 38 operations -- 15 in Jharkhand, 17 in Uttar Pradesh, four in Chhattisgarh and two in Madhya Pradesh -- last year during operations against liquor trade.

A total of 29 large vehicles, 26 small vehicles and 2,27,182 litres of liquor were seized during these operations, he added.

This, Kumar said, is a significant increase over four operations conducted by the prohibition unit in 2024 when 28,210 litres of spirit was seized.

Kumar said that in 2025, a total of 289 people were identified for accumulating wealth accruing from illegal trade of liquor, and action will be taken under Section 107 of the BNSS against those individuals.

That section deals with attachment, forfeiture or restoration of property linked to criminal activity.

The DGP also informed reporters that a total of 134 Maoists were arrested in 2025, while only 44 were nabbed the previous year. Five Naxals who had rewards on their heads also surrendered in 2025, he added.

“Although major Naxal violence has been reported in Bihar for several years, we are arresting them on a regular basis. Naxalism is nearing its end in Bihar,” he said. The DGP said that there had been a significant decline in the cases of serious crimes in 2025 vis-a-vis 2024. “The cases of murder have declined by 8.3 per cent, dacoity by 26.9 per cent, and riot cases by 21.5 per cent,” he said.

Kumar asserted that Dial 112, which has a response time of 14 minutes, has been a key factor in preventing small disputes from escalating into larger riots.