At 24, Luv Kumar Yadav of Gopalganj district in Bihar is saddled with two beasts of burden and worrying about his future, all courtesy the liquor ban law of the state.
The life of the young resident of Bhagwanpur village under Yadopur police station, who is a farmer and doubles as an artificial insemination worker for the cattle in his area, was normal till January this year. But then police knocked at his door. They had come with an unusual request.
The police had arrested four alleged bootleggers and seized a bullock cartload of liquor. However, they were finding it very difficult to tend to the cattle at the police station.
“I am forgetting the exact date when a police posse arrived at my house. It was towards the end of January. The police entrusted me with the responsibility of the cattle, asking me to care for them for a few days till they were auctioned,” Luv told The Telegraph on Wednesday.
“Now, I am a Yadav and could not have refused a request to save cattle. Little did I know that I was walking into a trap. It has been almost nine months now and I am burdened with two bullocks,” Luv added.
The youth has been spending around Rs 10,000 per month on feeding the two bullocks and doing umpteen rounds of the police station to enquire about when he will be relieved of them.
“My life has changed completely. I have spent around Rs 90,000 on feeding the bullocks and investing a couple of hours daily in tending to them. At present, one of them has a swelling in its foot and I have to call a veterinarian to treat it.
“I am unable to visit some other place for even a day or two because someone needs to be present to tend to the cattle,” Luv said.
To add to his misery, the police did not help him with any money for the upkeep of the cattle. He has always returned empty-handed from the police station with promises that he will be given the money that will come from their auction.
The officials of the prohibition and excise department did try to auction the bullocks, but there were no takers and Luv remained stuck with them.
Local mediapersons got wind of his predicament and started reporting it, much to the consternation of the police.
“One of the four persons arrested in this case is from my village and is a distant relative. He is out on bail. The police sent a message through him that I should not talk to media persons about the issue because it shows them in a poor light,” Luv said.
When this newspaper asked Yadopur station house officer (SHO) Vikram Kumar about the matter, he initially said that the bullocks have been auctioned.
Queried further, Vikram said: “I was not posted at this police station at that time. But the bullock cart was seized as per the provisions of the law. It was difficult to tend to the bullocks at the police station, hence they were handed to a local farmer.”
The SHO rejected Luv’s claim about having spent around Rs 90,000 on the bullocks and said that the amount could not be so high. He suggested that the youth must have been given some money from the police station’s fund.
Local police officials pointed out that the base price for the pair of bullocks has been fixed at Rs 60,000, which is a bit on the higher side.
“Nobody has approached us to see the bullocks till now. This means that nobody has applied to participate in the auction and there are no takers. On an average feeding one bullock will cost around Rs 5,000 a month,” a police officer said while agreeing that Luv should be helped.
On the other hand, Luv categorically stated that he did not get any money from the police station and demanded: “Either the police should pay me the money I have spent so far and take away the bullocks or they should handover their ownership to me.”
Bihar implemented total prohibition in April 2016. The police and the excise departments have arrested around 5.75 lakh people and registered around 4.25 lakh cases for flouting the liquor ban law.
They also seized around 80,000 vehicles, several bullock carts, horse carriages, bicycles and boats.
However, in reality, illicit liquor is available in the state.
