3 die after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in dry Bihar; 6 held for illegal alcohol trade

The deaths due to alleged consumption of spurious liquor occurred at Basauli village under Baradi Sahai police station of Vaishali district on Wednesday night.

Three people died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor while another was taken ill in Vaishali district of Bihar where the state government has implemented total prohibition since last year.

The head of Basauli village in Bihar’s Vaishali district claimed that the deaths were caused by spurious liquor.(Representative photo)

In Samastipur district, six persons were arrested and a truck in which they were carrying more than 4,000 litres of liquor has been seized, police said on Thursday.

The deaths due to alleged consumption of spurious liquor occurred at Basauli village under Baradi Sahai police station of Vaishali district in north Bihar on Wednesday night.

Local people, including the local village head (mukhiya), claimed that deaths were caused by spurious liquor while superintendent of police (SP) Rakesh Kumar said that the exact reason could be known only the after investigation and post-mortem in the case.

The deceased have been identified as Arun Patel ,50, Devendra Paswan ,45, and Lalbabu Paswan 46, sadar police station SHO Chitaranjan Thakur said, adding that the person, who was taken ill after consuming liquor, had been admitted in a nearby private hospital.

The mukhiya and other local people are protesting against the incident.

Four persons had died after consuming spurious liquor in Rohtas district of southwest Bihar last month after which the state government had place eight police personnel under suspension.

About Samastipur incident, Hathodi police station in-charge Suresh Prasad Yadav said, “We received information on Wednesday night that a truck with a Punjab registration number was passing through Punmadhampur village falling under Hathodi police station. We chased the vehicle and arrested all the six persons inside.”

“The truck was laden with bottles full of foreign liquor and the estimated quantity is more than 4,000 litres. The six arrested persons include the driver of the truck and his helper —both of them from Punjab — while the remaining occupants of the vehicle are locals apparently involved in the illicit liquor business,” Yadav said.

“Prima facie, they were planning to supply the liquor in Darbhanga district. Further investigations are on,” he added.

Sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar was banned by the Nitish Kumar government in April last year.

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