Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 14: At least 20 people are reported to have died after consuming spurious liquor in a local joint in Saran district in Bihar which introduced complete prohibition in 2016.
The police while admitting the deaths, however, refused to confirm the incident to be a hooch tragedy and said the cause of the “suspicious deaths” were under investigation.
The police said some people consumed liquor in a local joint till late on Tuesday and fell ill after returning home. According to sources, some of the victims had complained of uneasiness, nausea, breathlessness, stomach pain and blurry vision. After the deaths, angry villagers blocked the Masrakh Hanuman Chowk on State Highway 90 and raised slogans against the district administration. The district administration officials also have said the cause of the deaths was yet to be ascertained.
The son of one of the victims said that his father went out with his friends in the village on December 12 for a liquor party. “After he returned home, his health deteriorated and he started vomiting. We took him to the nearby hospital, where he succumbed,” he said.
“My brother complained of vision loss and uneasiness, we took him to Masrakh health centre for treatment. Seeing his deteriorating condition, the doctors referred him to Sadar Hospital, where he died,” said the brother of another victim.
The incident triggered a political slugfest in the Bihar assembly, with opposition leaders mounting a strong attack on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over the suspected hooch tragedy in the state. An irate Nitish lost his cool in the assembly and snapped at opposition MLAs who targeted the government over prohibition in the state.
Following the tragedy, Bihar excise minister Sunil Kumar on Wednesday “confirmed” that a few people died from consuming spurious liquor and vowed that the government would take “strict action” against the culprits.
“Process of filling an FIR is underway. I have spoken over the phone with SP. He confirmed the death of six people so far,” Sunil Kumar said after being asked about police taking any action in this case. “We do not shy away from arresting or taking action in such cases, whenever there is any evidence,” he asserted. Kumar said that the JD(U) government will continue to “crackdown on culprits responsible for deaths.”
The incident triggered a massive political showdown in the state, with opposition lawmakers staging a demonstration outside the state assembly.
Protesting over the incident, MLAs of the opposition BJP blamed the “nexus” between police and illicit liquor traders for the deaths. We have always supported the ban on liquor, even when it was introduced while we were in opposition. But its implementation has been a complete failure,” said former deputy chief minister Tarkishor Prasad.
The Janata Dal-United chief slammed the BJP for protesting the deaths as leader of opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha questioned the state’s liquor ban policy. A furious Nitish Kumar screamed “sharabi ho tum (you are a drunk)” at the opposition BJP as protest demonstrations continued outside and inside the state Assembly premises. “What happened? Keep quiet. You are talking? You do bad things. This will not be tolerated at all,” Nitish Kumar was heard saying in a video, trying to shout over slogan-shouting and protests by BJP MLAs.
This is the second Bihar assembly session after Nitish Kumar ditched the BJP and formed a new government with opposition parties, including the RJD, in August. Opposition MLAs later protested against Mr Kumar’s “sharabi” comment and demanded his public apology.
The toxic liquor deaths are a big embarrassment for the Chief Minister, with his political rivals flagging it as more proof that prohibition has failed in Bihar. Sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.