Bihar hooch tragedy toll rises to 28; BJP alleges deaths underreported

Saran/Patna: The Bihar hooch tragedy toll climbed to 28 with two more deaths reported, a top Saran district official said.

Saran District Magistrate Rajesh Meena told PTI, "The suspected hooch death has increased to 28 (till Thursday night) in the district".

The DM said that action has also been initiated against officials concerned.

"We have also conducted intensive raids across the district in the last 48 hours and nabbed 126 hooch traders. More than 4,000 litres of illicit liquor have also been seized," he told reporters on Thursday.

Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar, had declined to divulge whether the arrested persons included those directly involved in the latest hooch case, saying that "the matter is still under investigation and disclosing much at this stage could hamper the probe".

"For speedy investigation, an SIT consisting of 31 police officials, headed by an additional SP and including three deputy SPs, has also been set up", the district magistrate had said.

The DM and the SP also appealed to the people to come forward "with any relevant information they might have, without any fear of reprisal". Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP on Friday alleged that the government is hiding the total number of deaths in the hooch tragedy.

Talking to PTI, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha on Friday said, "Spurious liquor sale has been flourishing in Bihar under the protection of police officers and state administration despite prohibition in place. But the chief minister is silent and he does not take any action against the accused." 

"The Saran incident is a mass murder by the government and the state administration is responsible for it. We (BJP MLAs) visited the affected areas in Saran on Thursday, the number of deaths is much higher than the figure that is being provided by the district administration. We will again raise this issue in the Assembly on Friday," Sinha said.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday warned that if people drink spurious liquor, they will die.

The chief minister's blunt comments came as his policy of prohibition came under attack from many quarters including from his former political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor, who demanded scrapping of the prohibition law.

"Jo piyega woh marega" (those who drink spurious alcohol will die), thundered Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as he stood his ground maintaining that prohibition was “not my personal wish but a response to the cries of the women of the state”.

Kumar when he brought in prohibition had won praise from many women's groups who felt it would save their men-folk from the "curse of drunkenness and save homes from financial ruin."