Bihar hooch tragedy: Toll touches 25, several hospitalised, lose eyesight

While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar directed officials to conduct a “comprehensive probe” and take “stern action” against those responsible, the Congress and the RJD blamed the government for “failing to stop illegal liquor trade in the State”

The death toll in the Bihar hooch case touched 25 on Thursday (October 17, 2024) with several people hospitalised and some among them losing their eyesight. The incident occurred in the Siwan and Saran districts of the State on Wednesday(October 16, 2024).

Director General of Police Alok Raj told news agency PTI that 20 people died in Siwan and five in Saran. He said 12 people have been arrested for allegedly selling spurious liquor and they were likely to be “tried under the most stringent laws and punished by the court”.

“Two Special Investigating Teams (SIT) have also been set up in the aftermath of the incident. The one set up at the local level will be looking into the criminality involved in the latest episode. Another SIT has been set up by the Department of Prohibition in Patna which will carry out a comprehensive study of all such incidents that have taken place in the recent past, based upon which a plan of action will be drawn out,” he said.

“The name of a liquor mafioso has cropped up. He happened to be involved in a similar case earlier and is currently out on bail. We are investigating the matter from all angles,” Mr. Raj added.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar directed officials to conduct a “comprehensive probe” and take “stern action” against those responsible. However, Opposition leaders from the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal blamed the government for “failing to stop illegal liquor trade in the State” even as the State’s Prohibition, Excise and Registration Minister Ratnesh Sada demanded invoking the Crime Control Act against the liquor mafia.

Bihar Police said they have made several arrests and raided more than a hundred places in both the districts.

“Four villagers who had consumed spurious liquor have lost their eyesight,” a relative of Dharmendra Shah, 32, of Ibrahimpur village under Masrakh block of Saran district, told The Hindu over phone. Mr. Shah complained of blindness after consuming liquor and was hospitalised on Wednesday.

All the dead were residents of Madhar, Kaudia Vaishya Toli, Khairwan and Lakdi Nabiganj villages under Bhagwanpur-Hat police station of Siwan district and Saran’s two villages Gandaman and Ibrahimpur under Masrakh block. A woman, Ranju Devi of Khairwan village, died after drinking spurious liquor. “The death toll might go up in days to come,” said a villager.

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The family members of Ramendra Singh of Kaudia Viashya Toli village alleged that he along with others had consumed liquor manufactured by a man from Lakdi Nabiganj village that was sold to several suppliers in Siwan and Saran districts. “All villages of two neighboring districts fall within the radius of five kilometers,” said another villager.

Toxic chemical in liquor

Officials have confirmed that “a highly toxic organic chemical compound, methyl alcohol, was found excessively in the spurious liquor which might have caused the deaths.” Post mortem reports are yet to come, they said.

Saran Superintendent of Police (SP) Kumar Ashish said several people have been arrested. Siwan SP Amitesh Kumar said, “Some police officials have been suspended for dereliction of duty and raids are being conducted to nab those responsible.”

Siwan civil surgeon Dr. Shrinivas Prasad that 25 people, including two women, are receiving medical treatment at the local hospital while four others have been referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital for better medical attention.

The Opposition held the government responsible for the deaths. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Priyanka Gandhi hit out at the ruling “double-engine NDA government for failing to stop illegal liquor trade in Bihar”.

“The opportunistic double engine government in Bihar is responsible for taking lives of hundreds of people,” Mr. Kharge wrote on ‘X’.

Ms. Gandhi posted, “Liquor ban is enforced in Bihar, but illegal trade of spurious liquor is going on in full swing, owning to which death occur every day. The government should put a stop on this.”

Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, alleged that “illegal liquor is available at every corner of the State because of police-politician-mafia nexus”. “Who is responsible for the deaths of so many people in Siwan and Saran,” he asked in a statement.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published - October 17, 2024 04:32 pm IST