29 Dead After Consuming Hooch Liquor In Bihar

In an appaling incident, the consumption of spurious liquor has claimed the lives of 29 people in Gopalganj and the West Champaran district of Bihar, in the last two days. 17 people have died so far in Gopalganj, with 12 people also reported dead in the Bettiah area of West Champaran district confirmed by district authorities, as per reports in The Quint.

The Climbing Numbers

Authorities of both districts have not confirmed the reason behind the deaths. Meanwhile, some people have succumbed to mysterious circumstances in Muhammadpur village in the last two days in the district, superintendent of police Anand Kumar revealed. The autopsy reports of the deceased are still awaited; three teams are probing the case. The local police also revealed that some bodies have been cremated by their families.

Police have arrested four liquor traders Chhote Lal Sah, Ashok Sharma, Rampravesh Sah and Jitendra Prasad, from Turha Tola. Over 20 people, mostly belonging to scheduled caste, allegedly consumed the spurious liquor being sold by local traders. The liquor in question had claimed seventy lives between January-October 31 this year across Nawda, West Champaran, Muzzafarpur, Siwan, Rohtas district.

Dry State

The Nitish Kumar-led government on April 5, 2016, had banned the manufacture, trade, storage, transportation, sale and consumption of liquor in the state. The chief minister had also appealed to the people to join in on the mission as "liquor is bad for health and society". Opposition leader, Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the state government has failed to stop the sale and supply of spurious liquor in the dry state. "Police are disposing of the bodies of the dead without conducting the post-mortem of the dead. Is Nitish Kumar, who is making tall claims on prohibition, not responsible for these deaths?" he was quoted as saying by India Times.

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