Crime and policing go hand in hand in the state.

Amresh Sharma, a constable posted in Begusarai, was arrested on Tuesday, allegedly for plotting the murder of a woman and her young daughter in Jehanabad district last month. Amresh had allegedly taken supari (contract) from a Jehanabad resident to eliminate the duo.

As per plan, the criminals shot dead 45-year-old Savita Devi, wife of government school teacher Anil Singh, and their daughter Monika alias Mona at their native village Hajipur in Jehanabad district, around 60km south of Patna, on January 22. Amresh has reportedly paid a hefty sum for the purpose.

Amresh's arrest comes within a week after another constable, Rupesh Kumar Giri, was nabbed from Motihari police lines in East Champaran district on January 29 for helping a gang loot gold biscuits weighing over 2kg and Rs 12 lakh in cash from a businessman. Rupesh was sent to Motihari central jail.

Before these incidents, a Government Railway Police jawan, Binod Kumar, was arrested from Motihari last year for forcing a man to indulge in picketing in and around the railway station.

The jawan also allegedly offered him an illegal weapon for committing the offence.

The disconcerting trend is rising in Bihar with more men in khakhi being apprehended for their alleged involvement in serious offences across the state. Be it murder, extortion or bank robbery, they are committing crime of all hues.

Take the case of Sanjiv Kumar alias Pappu Singh, a constable earlier deputed as bodyguard of a DSP-rank officer. Sanjiv was arrested from Nalanda district in April 2013 for his alleged involvement in loot of about Rs 1.25 crore from the cash van of a nationalised bank in Saran district.

Referring to Amresh's case, outgoing Jehanabad superintendent of police Ansuiya Ransingh Sahu said the police had gathered clinching evidences to substantiate the charges against the cop.

"He was in regular touch with the perpetrators of crime hailing from Lakhvar, Mataur, Desaiya and Daidih villages in Jehanabad district," she said.

She said Amresh, a resident of Sripat village of the district, was given the contract by a resident of Chopaha village, who wanted to settle his personal score with the woman's daughter.

Amresh has also confessed to his crime.

East Champaran superintendent of police Sunil Kumar said Rupesh, who was arrested for abetment of crime, had already been put under suspension and departmental proceedings initiated against him.

Inspector-general (Tirhut zone) Parasnath, however, described these cops as black sheep of the department. "Every department has some black sheep and the police force is no exception," he said.

Former secretary of Bihar Police Association K.K. Jha has a different view on this. "There is an overall deterioration in the society and the involvement of men in khakhi in criminal offences is a result of that," Jha said, adding that even some senior cops' involvement in such offences have come to surface in the past.