Hooch tragedy in dry Bihar claims 13

A three-member medical committee has been constituted to probe the death of 13 persons in Bihar’s Gopalganj district. Highly placed sources from the district claimed that the deaths occurred due to illicit liquor consumption.

The incident occurred in Khajurbani locality of the district where, according to sources, more than a dozen persons complained of nausea and stomach ache after consuming country made illicit liquor. They were rushed to a local hospital where 13 died during treatment. Sources from Gopalganj told this newspaper that, “Two other persons were admitted to a private hospital in Gorakhpur for treatment.”

Refusing to confirm the reasons behind these deaths, district magistrate Rahul Kumar said, “We are probing the case and will be able to confirm the reason behind these deaths only after we get post mortem report.”

The district administration has constituted a medical board to investigate the reasons behind these deaths. The incident may cause huge embarrassment for the Nitish Kumar-led grand secular alliance government which had imposed a ban on sale, possession and consumption of liquor on April 5, 2016. The state had strengthened excise intelligence bureau and had introduced a new law for stricter enforcement of prohibition.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi released a figure Wednesday which showed that within four months around 30 persons have died due to hooch tragedy in Bihar.

“This government has completely failed in curbing the consumption of liquor despite imposing tough laws. This only proves that the law is nothing but a tool to harass innocent people while there are others who are just defying the law. Chief minister Nitish Kumar must take moral responsibility of the deaths which has occurred due to illicit liquor consumption,” senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said on Wednesday.