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16 dead in suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar: Police
Bettiah: At least 16 people have died since Wednesday in Bihar’s West Champaran district after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, police said on Friday
Bettiah: At least 16 people have died since Wednesday in Bihar’s West Champaran district after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, police said on Friday.
Of the total, eight of them died on Friday alone. The deceased belonged to Deurawa, Jogiya and Bagahi villages, district magistrate Kundan Kumar said.
At least five persons, including two women, have been picked up for interrogation and one person has been arrested, police added.
The sale and consumption of liquor are banned in the state since 2016.
“In the course of investigation, family members of four of the deceased accepted the death occurred owing to the consumption of spurious liquor. However, family members of four of the deceased denied any liquor consumption. They did not furnish any medical documents about ailments either,” a release by West Champaran district administration read.
Police on Thursday registered a case, in which two persons, identified as Thug Shah and Suresh Shah, were named.
“One of the accused, Thug Shah’s son Sumit, has been arrested while two local chowkidars have been suspended,” the statement added.
Bagaha SP Kiran Kumar Gorakh Jadhav, who is currently in-charge of Bettiah police station, said: “Their interrogation is underway. We have also deployed a dog squad for search operations and raids are being conducted. No seizure has been made as of yet.”
“One of those who died in Bagahi village was on dialysis while the other at Deurawa village died following a heart attack,” Kumar said, adding: “The cause of the deaths could not be ascertained as the last rites were already performed. The matter is under investigation.”
Lalan Mohan Prasad, deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Champaran range, said: “We took statements from about 40 people, including the family members of those who died, but all of them denied any consumption of liquor. However, one of the two persons undergoing treatment confessed to having been served liquor.”
Villagers at Deurawa admitted that the sale and consumption of liquor was rampant in the area. “My brother fell sick after consuming liquor which is being openly sold despite prohibition,” Bhola, a relative of one Mumtaz Ansari who confessed to have consuming liquor before falling ill, said.
The incident evoked a sharp reaction from the opposition with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad tweeting: “In Bihar, thousands of people are dying every year due to (consumption of) spurious liquor under good governance. Under the garb of prohibition, the ruling party is running a parallel illegal economy of ₹20,000 crore in Bihar.”
Birendra Gupta, CPI-ML (L) legislator from Sikta assembly seat, termed the deaths as “state-sponsored” and demanded a compensation of ₹4 lakh for kin of each deceased.
“The family members of the deceased are under pressure. They had earlier accepted that the deaths had occured due to consumption of illicit liquor,” Gupta, who visited the kin of the deceased, said.
