The plunder and loot of Bettiah Raj continued unabated. But with the change in the power structure in the last two decades, the social base and sophistication of the primitive accumulator changed. The character of the landed elite changed to the trading elite, with substantial interests in sugarcane production and the sugarcane industry. This new elite coopted and promoted several henchmen from the subaltern background. The story goes that in the guesthouse of Udaipur jungle, built originally by the Bettiah Raj, now patronised by the new elite, the innovation of the kidnapping industry was given shape under the supervision of an IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre posted in the district in the early eighties. Kidnapping got precedence, as dacoity was not considered to be a risk-free operation.

Bhagar started his career as a cattle guard from the Udaipur jungle, where he finetuned his kidnapping skill. Over the years, he diversified his accumulation, apart from eyeing the left-overs of the Bettiah Raj. He is said to now control the cultivation of about 10,000 acres of diara land, ghats, contracts and levies on the incoming and outgoing goods of the region. In this way, the subalterns emulate the traditional elites. In the case of Champaran, the pattern of primitive accumulation was not only the same but even the object of accumulation was identical, for criminals of the traditional as well as the subaltern elite.

Now, for the first time in Bihar, the state is emerging as an autonomous social mediator. The numerous power centres that functioned independently in Bihar, are now slowly capitulating before the authority of the state. Bhagar’s surrender has to be seen in this broader social matrix.

... contd.