Ten more persons have died in Bihar’s Siwan and Saran districts after drinking spurious liquor, PTI reported on Friday. This increased the toll in the incident to 35.
While Siwan accounted for 28 of the fatalities, seven deaths were reported from Saran.
“As many as 28 people in Maghar and Auriya panchayats in Siwan district have so far died after consuming suspected illicit liquor,” Nilesh Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, Saran range, told PTI.
Seven persons in the Ibrahimpur area of Saran had died, he added.
More than 25 persons from both districts were still in hospital, the news agency quoted unidentified police officials as saying.
At least 15 persons were arrested in connection with the incident in both districts, PTI reported. The district administrations also suspended the chowkidars of the Maghar, Auriya and Ibrahimpur areas.
Show-cause notices have been issued to five police officers, PTI quoted an unidentified official as saying.
The sale and consumption of alcohol has been banned in Bihar since April 2016. However, instances of residents falling ill and dying after drinking spurious liquor are often reported from the state.
On Thursday, Director General of Police Alok Raj said that two Special Investigation Teams had been set up following the incident. “The one set up at the local level will be looking into the criminality involved in the latest episode,” he said.
The other team was set up by the Department of Prohibition in Patna to study similar incidents that had taken place in the recent past, Raj said.
A plan of action will be drawn out based on this study, he added.
A statement from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s office on Thursday said that he held a high-level review meeting regarding the incidents in Siwan and Saran districts.
“Following the review, [Kumar] directed the secretary of the Prohibition, Excise and Registration Department to visit the sites, gather information, and conduct a comprehensive investigation into the matter,” the statement read.
In December 2022, 38 persons died in Saran district after drinking spurious liquor.
‘Mass murder’: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on deaths
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said that the chief minister “should be blamed for the latest hooch deaths” in the state and called the incident a “mass murder”.
In a social media post, the Opposition leader said: “Liquor ban is an example of Nitish Kumar-led government’s institutional corruption. If liquor ban has been implemented then it is the government’s responsibility to implement it efficiently.”
Yadav said that the ban was a “super flop” in the state. “Due to the unholy nexus between ruling politicians-police and liquor mafia, a black market of illegal liquor, worth more than Rs 30,000 crore has flourished in Bihar,” he claimed.
He added: “According to state government records, number of people who died due to consumption of spurious liquor is more than 300. Who is their killer?”
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bihar chief Dilip Jaiswal said that those behind the incident would be arrested soon, PTI reported.
“The incident is very tragic,” he told reporters. “The NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government in the state is committed to enforce the liquor ban effectively in the state.”
Also read: Why is Nitish Kumar so determined to continue with prohibition in Bihar?
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