Interestingly, ADG (Headquarters) Rajyavardhan Sharma on Thursday––that is on the first day of Abhayanan as the DGP–– claimed that these were hoax calls made for fun by some youths. But nobody even in the ruling establishment is going to believe him as none can dare to play pranks with ministers, DMs, SPs, MPs, MLAs, MLCs etc. If they were made for fun then why were people arrested as in the recent case when two persons were arrested for giving a threatening call to Ujjiarpur Janata Dal (United) MP.

For high-profile Abhayanand the challenge to take on the criminals is much bigger than when he took over as the ADG (Headquarters) about six years back or when he was assigned the job to crush kidnappers of West Champaran in early 1990s by the then Lalu Yadav government.

While Abhayanand as SP in early 1990s successfully took up the cudgel and almost wiped out the notorious kidnapper gangs in the riverine and jungle belt of the India-Nepal border and then as ADG (Headquarters) six years ago played a key role in raising SAP and toning up the concept of speedy trial, the real test of his skill and talent has come now in 2011.

The greatest problem with him is his image. Today the profile of Abhayanand is perhaps bigger than the post of DGP simply because of his philanthropic contributions in Super-30, Rahmani-30, Magadh-30 and Triveni-30. So is the expectation.

Coming from the family of IPS––about a quarter century back his father served as the DGP––he was well aware of the history of kidnapper gangs of West Champaran who got themselves very well ensconced in the rough terrain of the district in early 1980s, thanks to the ‘contribution’ of an Andhra Pradesh cadre SP posted there.

Similarly, Abhayanand was well aware of the growth and expansion of Moaists in 1980s when his father was the DGP and he himself a young SP.

Perhaps never in any state’s history, especially of Bihar people’s expectation is so high about any DGP as in the case of Abhayanand, who till a couple of months back was suffering from serious heart problem.

Abhayanand need not be reminded of the history of crime of Bihar. Crime graph went up in Bihar much sharply after the victory of Lalu Yadav in 1995 Assembly election. The nature of crime between 1990 and 1995 was somewhat different.

Social conflict––the Mandal-Mandir phenomenon ––helped dons like Pappu Yadav, Anand Mohan, Shahabuddin, Rama Singh, Chotan Shukla, Munna Shukla, Rajan Tiwary etc make Robin Hood-like image in early 1990s.

But in later years pure criminals––kidnappers, dacoits, murderers Ranvir Sena men, Maoists etc––dominated the scene all over the state as the then chief minister lost control after his name figured in the fodder scam and his wife and brothers-in-law took over.

In the first five years the situation was somewhat different. If SPs like Abhayanand literally came down heavily on the kidnapper gangs in West Champaran Dr Ajay Kumar (recently elected as MP from Jamshedpur) in the first four years of that decade created terror in the ranks of criminals of Patna and then in Jamshedpur in the next two years.

Similar is the case with the Nitish regime. Law and order situation improved in the first five years, but the criminals took the state by storm immediately after his government was re-elected in November 2010. The month of December itself saw several kiduapping to be followed by murder all over the state.

Unlike Lalu, who got embroiled in the fodder scam, Nitish is well in command of the situation––and politically as strong as ever––yet the situation seems to be going out of hand.

The appointment of Abhayanand came as a surprise too as his relationship with the powers that be was not all that cordial in the last couple of years. Yet he had been entrusted with this important responsibility.

Only time will tell how philanthropic he sounds as the DGP of the state and make it a safe place to live in.

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