Hooch tragedy: 29 Bihar cops suspended

The state government suspended 29 cops on Friday after toll in the hooch tragedy climbed to 18. The suspension order came a day after seven persons were arrested in Gopalganj, and 28 gallons of spurious country liquor was recovered from Khajurbani area of the district.

The police also registered FIRs against 14 persons, and a manhunt is on to nab seven suspects who went into hiding after the incident occurred on Wednesday.

“A team is constituted to trace the whereabouts of the seven suspects,” said sources.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), calling the incident an administrative failure, asked the state government to take action against Gopalganj superintendent of police (SP) for not enforcing the Prohibition Act effectively in the district.

“To hide the reality, police threatened family members of the victims and asked them to cremate bodies without post-mortem examination.” BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said, “How is it possible that the police raided 667 locations and only missed out Khajurbani area where the incident happened ”