8 dead in suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar’s Nalanda district

Confirming deaths of eight people, superintendent of police, Nalanda, Ashok Kumar, said the toll may go up as many others are injured

Eight people died after drinking illicit liquor in Nalanda, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s home district, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place on Friday evening in Nalanda, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s home district (Representational image)

The incident took place on Friday evening and the deceased were identified as Bhago Mistri (55), Manna Mistri (55), Dharmendra alias Nageshwar Mistri (50), Kalichanra Mistri (48), Sunil Kumar (24), Arjun Pandit (51), Jaipal Sharma (49) and Rakesh Kumar (45), all of them residents of Chhoti Palari and Pahar Talli under Sohsarai police station.

Confirming deaths of eight people, superintendent of police (SP), Nalanda, Ashok Kumar, said the toll may go up as many others are injured. “We are trying to locate all those who have taken ill in the incident. At present, two people are admitted to hospitals and are said to be in critical condition, but the number could be more,” the SP said.

Shivaji Chauhan and Ram Swarup, both around 50 and from the same locality, were left critically injured in the incident, police said, adding that they are being treated at Bihar Sharif sadar hospital.

Family members of the deceased said the victims, who worked as construction labourers, had consumed alcohol together and fell sick after reaching home.

Deputy superintendent of police, sadar, Sibli Nomani, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place, said the reasons for the death were yet to be ascertained. “Statements of the bereaved families are being recorded. Postmortem reports of the deceased are being awaited to know the exact cause of the deaths,” said Nomani.

This is the seventh incident of hooch tragedy in Bihar in the past six months, claiming lives of more than 40 people, even as the state has been under total prohibition since April 2016.

Most of the hooch tragedies have been reported from East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Samastipur districts in recent times.

State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief and West Champaran MP Sanjay Jaiswal on Friday once again batted for the review of prohibition law, saying the “legislation might be well-intentioned, but its implementation had brought shame to the state”. His reaction was to a social media post of Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Abhishek Jha, who had questioned Jaiswal’s visit to the houses of victims of hooch tragedy in the latter’s home constituency.

In a post, Jaiswal also claimed to have personal knowledge of many instances in which people from other states had to suffer for carrying liquor, though they were merely passing through Bihar.

Expressing shock over the Friday’s incident, Janata Dal (United) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan said those responsible for the incident will be dealt with strictly. “Such incidents are abated by unsocial elements, who are utterly disappointed by the liquor law. So far as the state BJP chief’s assertion is concerned, I hope that leaders of the alliance partner must abide by the coalition dharma and help the government enforce the law with full firmness. After all, they too have taken pledge to make Bihar liquor-free,” said Ranjan.

Congress leader and former MLC Ajay Kumar Singh said that recurring hooch tragedies exposed the failure of the state government, adding that it was high time the liquor law is reviewed to save the poor, who generally fall prey to spurious liquor.

“Leaders of the ruling parties have openly said that alcohols of good brands are easily available. But the poor mostly resort to the illegally produced country liquor as they are available cheap. The government should better focus on social awareness to dissuade people from alcohol consumption rather than using the stringent legal route,” said Singh.