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Gopalganj hooch tragedy: Charge sheet filed against 12, says methyl alcohol caused deaths
The police on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 12 accused arrested in connection with the November 2021 hooch tragedy that left 21 people dead at Muhammadpur in Gopalganj district of Bihar, a state where liquor was banned in April 2016.
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The police on Thursday filed a charge sheet against 12 accused arrested in connection with the November 2021 hooch tragedy that left 21 people dead at Muhammadpur in Gopalganj district of Bihar, a state where liquor was banned in April 2016.
The 82-page charge sheet, filed in the special court of additional district judge Lav Kush Kumar in Gopalganj by Rajesh Kumar, the investigating officer and station house officer of Mohammadpur police station, states that methyl alcohol or methanol had been used in making hooch that led to deaths in Muhammadpur and neighbouring villages.
“The charge sheet was filed under sections 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc with intent to commit an offence), 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and under sections of Bihar Excise Act,” said special public prosecutor Ravi Bhusan Srivastava.
According to the SHO, forensic evidence and viscera reports of 12 people found that they consumed hooch in copious amount, which adversely affected their body organs. Once methanol reaches the liver, it breaks into formaldehyde and formic acid, which is more toxic.
Gopalganj superintendent of police (SP) Anand Kumar told HT that of the 19 named accused, six are still absconding while one of them died in the hooch tragedy. “More than 20 people had consumed the spurious liquor at the house of one Chhathu Ram on November 2 and they all later complained of nausea, headache, restlessness and blurred vision. Nine of the dead were cremated while 12 bodies were sent for autopsy and their viscera preserve for forensic test,” the SP said.
In November last year, Bihar witnessed a series of hooch tragedies in rural areas of Gopalganj, West Champaran, Samastipur and Muzaffarpur districts. Special investigation teams of police were formed to probe these incidents and submit reports in 60 days.
In the ensuing crackdown, the police have raided more than 1,300 locations and arrested around 823 people and registered 698 cases, according to state police headquarters.
