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Bihar: Toll in Nalanda hooch tragedy climbs to 13, SIT to probe case
The death toll in the Nalanda hooch tragedy on Sunday rose to 13, prompting the Bihar government to form a SIT to probe the incident.
The death toll in the Nalanda hooch tragedy on Sunday rose to 13, prompting the Bihar government to form a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter, officials said.
While six people are undergoing treatment at various government and private hospitals, two of them appeared to have lost their eyesight. More than 30 people have been arrested so far, the officials said.
According to Patna inspector general Rakesh Rathi, the station house officer (SHO) of Sohsarai police station, under whose jurisdiction the incident occured, has been suspended.
Nalanda superintendent of police Ashok Mishra confirmed that 13 people have so far died in the incident which took place on Friday evening. All the deceased are residents of Chhoti Palari and Pahar Talli under Sohsarai police station, he said.
“To probe the incident, an SIT led by Sadar deputy superintendent of police and comprising Sohsarai police station in-charge and circle inspector, has been constituted to search for those responsible for the tragedy,” Mishra said.
“The postmortem reports of all the deceased are awaited to know the exact cause of the deaths,” he added.
The bodies of eight of the deceased were handed over to family members after post mortem, police said.
Nalanda district magistrate Shashank Subhankar said: “On the basis of the doctors’ report, it seems all the deaths were attributed to the consumption of spurious liquor. Thirty-four people, who are related to the tragedy, have been arrested so far.”
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.
