But the state is seeing a surge in crime after at least 13 non-related killings were reported in a week from July 7 to 13. These included a lawyer, a teacher, businessmen, and a government employee, among others.
State Crime Records Bureau
The SCRB data stated that 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.
Bihar has consistently ranked among the top five states in terms of violent crimes, as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures. The state held second position in the violent crime rate in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022 (the latest year till which NCRB data is available).
Killings in one week
On July 13, two persons — a lawyer and a teacher — were shot dead in separate incidents in Patna and Saran districts. Unidentified men shot dead lawyer Jitendra Mahto near a tea stall in Patna’s Sultanganj locality. Teacher Santosh Rai was gunned down by two bike-borne assailants in Saran district’s Bisahi.
On July 12, a 60-year-old woman was shot dead in the Nalanda district. The deceased was identified as Sushila Devi (60), who was working in a hospital in Patna. The incident happened when Sushila Devi was returning from her agricultural field.
On July 10, a 50-year-old man involved in the sand mining business was shot dead outside his home in the Ranitalab area of rural Patna. Unidentified men fired on Ramkant Yadav near his residence in Dhana village.
On July 7, at least nine people were murdered in four incidents in the state. The killings took place in Purnea, Nalanda, Muzaffarpur and Patna districts.
In Purnea district, five members of a family were killed and their bodies set on fire by villagers on suspicion of practising witchcraft.
In Nalanda’s Dumrawan village, two persons, including a 22-year-old woman, were shot dead when members of two families fired at each other over a domestic dispute. The deceased have been identified as Annu Kumari and Himanshu Kumar (24).
A government engineer was allegedly stabbed to death by robbers in front of his family in Muzaffarpur, while a 50-year-old businessman was shot dead in Patna.
Opposition targets Nitish govt
Opposition parties have targeted the Nitish Kumar government and alleged that this is, indeed, the same as the ‘jungle raj’ for which the RJD is often blamed. The tenure of former chief minister Lalu Yadav for a decade in the 1990s has been labelled as ‘jungle raj’. The tenure was marred by crime, murders, loot, rapes, lawlessness, poverty, migration, among others
However, the state is presently being headed by the Janata Dal United and the BJP alliance under the chief ministership of Nitish Kumar.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in a post on X said, “If the crumbling law and order and rampant corruption in Bihar aren’t making anyone angry in the state, then we must say that the person’s sense of justice and human compassion has died. Ignoring the government’s failures and public sentiments in the name of caste and religion is disastrous for Bihar and the people of the state. Under the NDA’s rule, 65,000 murders have taken place so far !!! Does the unconscious Chief Minister dare to make a statement on any such incident?”
Even NDA partner and Union Minister Chirag Paswan appeared rattled by soaring crime graphs. Paswan, Hajipur MP, wrote on X, “How many Biharis will be murdered? It is beyond understanding what is the responsibility of Bihar Police?”
The Congress called it a “worsening law and order situation” in Bihar.
Police statement
Police have blamed the surge on the widespread availability of illegal firearms and ammunition. Senior police officers told PTI that the proliferation of firearms, which are illegally manufactured or procured without a valid license, coupled with an unchecked availability of ammunition, has contributed to the recent spurt in violent crimes.
DGP Vinay Kumar told PTI, “Land disputes and property matters are the main reasons behind most of the killings. In such cases, the role of the police is limited, and it starts after the crime takes place. Our force has achieved 100% detection rate”.
The National Database of Arms Licenses-Arms License Issuance System (NDAL-ALIS) portal (Ministry of Home Affairs) stated that Bihar has 82,326 firearms holders and 77,479 active arms licences.
Out of 141 licensed arms dealers in the state, only 114 are operational, while 27 have been found inoperative.
The SCRB data showed Patna as the leading district in Arms Act cases, averaging 321.7 cases annually, followed by Begusarai (167.7), Muzaffarpur (158.3), Nalanda (117.9), and Vaishali (117.8). It added that in the last 10 years, the number of recovered country-made firearms has more than doubled from 2,356 in 2015 to 4,981 in 2024.
With inputs from PTI
