Bihar: Former JD(U) MLA arrested after video of him drinking liquor surfaces online

Former MLA from Bihar Lalan Ram was arrested on Wednesday after a video showing him drinking was circulated on social media. He was suspended from Janata Dal United party after the video surfaced, which was also aired by a state news channel on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the video, Ram is also heard saying that nobody follows the liquor ban imposed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Bihar, which implies that it was shot after the liquor ban was placed.

"Taking serious note of the violation of a total liquor ban by him, the JD-U has suspended him on the charge of giving a bad name to the party," JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh was quoted as saying by IANS.

Ram was arrested after the excise department filed a police complaint against him for violating the liquor ban. He was a former MLA from Kutumba constituency in Aurangabad district of Bihar.

He was arrested at Sanda village in Aurangabad district by excise and police teams led by excise superintendent Sunil Kumar, the Times of India reported.

He was arrested on Wednesday from the Bihar-Jharkhand border, Pradesh18 reported. Ram reacted to the accusations against him saying that it was a conspiracy and that he was a Nitish "bhakt."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main contender against the JD(U)-RJD alliance in the Bihar Assembly election in 2015, attacked the policy of liquor ban after Ram's arrest.

BJP state president Mangal Pandey said that Kumar boasts about the success of the liquor ban when his own party members don't follow it.

Ram is the second JD(U) member to be suspended for violating the liquor ban. Earlier, Manorama Devi, a JD(U) MLC, was jailed after liquor bottles were found at her residence in Gaya district.