Around 40 die due to toxic liquor in Bihar

Even as the toll in the Saran hooch tragedy continues to rise in India, with unconfirmed reports putting the toll at 60 while the district administration has confirmed 38 deaths so far, Bihar has been jolted by yet another hooch incident, this time in western Bihar's Siwan district, barely 25km from the two villages in Saran, where five people have allegedly died after consuming illicit liquor, police said on Friday.

According to a preliminary probe by Siwan police, eight people, including a chowkidar of Bhagwanpur police station, consumed spurious liquor on Thursday afternoon. "Most of them fell ill soon after and were rushed to a hospital with complaints ranging from loss of vision to nausea, headache, and vomiting.

Police said two men Mahesh Rai (35) and Rajendra Pandit (30), died late on Thursday while Shambhu Yadav (28), Amir Manjhi (30), and his brother Awadh Manjhi (28), died on the way to Gorakhpur on Friday after being referred there for treatment.

Shambu Yadav's family told reporters that he complained of loss of vision after consuming liquor on Thursday noon and was taken to a hospital.

Police said that the families of the two persons (Mahesh and Rajendra) quietly cremated the bodies to avoid police action.

Siwan district magistrate (DM) Amit Kumar Pandey said the administration rushed a team after hearing of the deaths. By then, two of the five victims had already been cremated, while the family of Awadh and Amir didn't hand over the bodies.

Officials said Yadav's body was sent for autopsy.

Pandey said a probe team has been formed and a detailed report has been sought. Maharaajganj sub-divisional police officer Polastu Kumar told HT that the investigation is still going on. "We will be able to divulge more details once we get the autopsy reports," he said.

Meanwhile, in Saran, unconfirmed reports said that the toll has risen to 60. Saran district magistrate Rajesh Meena said the admitted persons consumed spurious liquor but the actual cause of death will be determined after an autopsy. "I have got reports about the deaths and the investigation is on. The trail of spirit smuggling to the area is being established. So far, 38 postmortems have been conducted in Chhapra sadar hospital as well as at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). Twelve persons have been admitted to Chhapra and all of them are out of danger while eight persons are undergoing treatment at the PMCH. The actual reason for their deaths will be ascertained once the autopsy, FSL, and probe reports come," he said.

In Saran, 27 deaths have been reported from Masrakh block, while the remaining 33 casualties have been reported from Isuapur, Amnaur, and Marhaura areas of the Saran district.

On Friday morning, three people, including--Ramayan Giri of Marcha village, Jai Narayan Rai, and Surendra Singh of Manisiria-Hussepur village--died, police said.

Saran SP Santosh Kumar said that the Special Investigative Team (SIT) carried out raids against the liquor mafia and arrested 87 people, including seven hardcore mafias, in the last 24 hours. "We have seized 1051 litres of liquor, demolished 30 liquor den, and destroyed 13, 000 country-made liquors," he said.

The Bihar police headquarters claimed that at least 83 liquor/spirit mafias, including 16 from Haryana, 28 from Jharkhand, 16 from Uttar Pradesh, nine from West Bengal, four from Delhi, two from Arunachal Pradesh, three from Assam, and five from Punjab were arrested from outside of the state between November 2021 to January 2022.