Katihar (Bihar), March 20 A team of Excise and Prohibition Department officials and GRP personnel clashed at Katihar railway station on Friday over a raid, leaving a constable injured, officials said.
The incident occurred when the prohibition team arrived at the station to intercept an alleged consignment of liquor reportedly being transported by train in the dry state of Bihar.
While the excise department alleged that GRP personnel obstructed their operations and assaulted the team members, the railway authorities said that a "minor scuffle" occurred due to a misunderstanding.
Both sides are conducting investigations into the matter.
"The officers from the prohibition team had come in plain clothes without informing the railway officers in advance. The GRP personnel approached them to inquire whether they were from any official unit, and a minor scuffle occurred due to a misunderstanding," Railway DSP Arun Kumar Akela said.
However, the matter was quickly resolved when one of the prohibition department officers showed his identification card, he claimed.
"There are instances when notorious individuals impersonate police officers to conduct fake raids. It is difficult to determine the truth from lies in such cases," Akela said.
Excise department official Ravi Kishore Prasad, on the other hand, alleged that GRP personnel obstructed their operations and "resorted to physical assault."
"Based on secret information that liquor was being transported via the Hate Bazare Express from Bengal, we arrived to conduct a raid. However, GRP personnel misbehaved with our officers and physically assaulted us," he said.
Kishore said that the prohibition team regularly conducts joint raids with the Railway Police Force and had already seized 61 litres of liquor from the same train on Thursday.
"We regularly conduct raids there, but the GRP personnel warned us this time that they would put us in jail if we conducted raids without permission," he said.
Constable Dev Shankar Jha of the Excise department sustained injuries in the clash and was taken to Katihar Sadar Hospital, officials said.
"We had gone to apprehend liquor smugglers, but were instead assaulted by uniformed personnel," Jha said.
Akela said that a clear picture of the incident will emerge only after a thorough investigation.
"Currently, both sides are conducting a detailed inquiry to ascertain whether there was any lapse. If any fault is found, legal action will be taken against the concerned officers," he said.
Senior officers are looking into the matter to prevent such misunderstandings from occurring in the future, the railway DSP added.
The Bihar government enforced a complete ban on the manufacture, trade, storage, transportation, sale, and consumption of liquor and intoxicants in the state in 2016.