21 Bihar policemen dismissed over 2016 Gopalganj hooch tragedy

The tragedy, which took place on August 15, 2016, was the first major incident reported in Bihar after the state government declared total prohibition in April that year.

Twenty-one policemen in Bihar were dismissed on Friday in connection with the hooch tragedy in Gopalganj four years ago, in which 16 people had died, officials said.

In this picture dated August 17, 2016, policemen are seen with recovered poisonous liquor in a field at Harkhua Khajurbari village in Gopalganj district of Bihar. (File photo: PTI)

Three sub-inspectors, five assistant sub-inspectors and 13 constables were among those sacked.

The tragedy, which took place on August 15, 2016, was the first major incident reported in Bihar after the state government declared total prohibition in April that year.

Earlier, 15 policemen, including the SHO of Town police station under which the tragedy took place in Khajurbanni locality, were suspended on the charge of dereliction of duty.

The deaths were initially considered as mysterious as the autopsy reports did not highlight any trace of liquor in some of the bodies but the state government clarified that the 16 died after drinking poisonous liquor.

People in Khajurbani, a settlement of Mahadalit Pasis and some OBC groups, use a flower, Mahua, to brew illicit liquor. Most of the 16 people who died in the suspected hooch tragedy are said to have consumed liquor from this area on the night of August 15.

The entire police staff of Town police station was suspended hours after the incident and faced departmental enquiry, according to the police headquarters.