Six dead, 3 fall sick after consuming ‘hooch’ in Saran

In yet another suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar, at least six people have died while three taken seriously ill after consuming spurious liquor in Saran district in the past 48 hours, kin of the victims said.

In yet another suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar, at least six people have died while three taken seriously ill after consuming spurious liquor in Saran district in the past 48 hours, kin of the victims said.

Police carry out investigation into the alleged consumption of suspected spurious liquor in Nalanda on January 15. (ANI)

The incident comes days after 13 people lost their lives in Nalanda after consuming suspected spurious liquor.

According to police, those who died on Wednesday have been identified as Krishna Mahto (45), Ramnath Rai (55), and Anil Mistry (40), while those who died on the wee hours of Thursday have been identified as Bharat Rai (40), Brij Bihari Rai (70) and Mohammad Isha (45).

Police said autopsy reports of Ramnath Rai and Mohammad Isha had ruled out presence of toxic methanol in their blood but reports of their viscera are still awaited.

Of the three who have fallen ill, Paltan Mahto (45) and Sanjay Baitha (22) are said to have lost their vision allegedly after consuming spurious liquor and are undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Muzaffarpur, while Suraj Baitha (26) has been referred to Patna in a critical condition, police said.

Officials said that during the investigation, Ramnath’s wife Lalti Devi admitted that her husband was an alcoholic. “My husband returned home around 9.30 pm (Tuesday) and fell ill around 11.55 pm, complaining of nausea, headache, vomiting, and uneasiness and died on the bed,” officials quoted Devi as saying.

Mohammad Isha’s son told HT that his father died due to liquor consumption. “There is no other reason as he was not ill,” Mohammad Azad Hussain said.

Saran superintendent of police (SP) Santosh Kumar said he would be able to say anything only after getting the autopsy reports of the deceased.

“Preliminary report suggests that Ramnath died due to cardiac arrest. However, only the forensic report can confirm whether they have consumed hooch or not. An investigation team has been constituted under the supervision of the excise superintendent and a detailed report has been sought from them,” the SP said.

“The Chhapra Sadar hospital has conducted an autopsy of Ramnath and Md Isha and has preserved their viscera, which has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Patna to ascertain the reason behind their death,” said district magistrate Rajesh Meena.