Bihar hooch tragedy: 2 mafia members held, liquor worth Rs 8 lakh seized

Bihar's Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested two liquor mafia members in connection with the hooch tragedy. The initial investigation by the police revealed that the liquor consignment was brought from Punjab and Ballia. The angry relatives of the over 70 deceased said, "men still get liquor illegally in the state. Where is the ban?"

Saran (Bihar):Bihar's Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested two liquor mafia members in connection with the hooch tragedy in Saran district in which more than 70 people died. Saran superintendent of police (SP) Santosh Kumar confirmed the arrest and identified the accused as Akhilesh Rai alias Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, and Anil Singh.

The team of excise department even caught foreign liquor being transported from Manjhi by a tractor on Saturday night, which was brought from Haryana and Punjab. The value of the seized liquor is around eight lakh rupees.

The initial investigation by the police revealed that the liquor consignment was brought from Punjab and Ballia. After the hooch tragedy in Saran, which has hogged the national limelight, the Saran police have launched an operation to identify and arrest people suspected to be involved in the illicit liquor trade, transportation, smuggling, and brewing.

The police are running Operation Clean Drive in the entire district under which 350 people have been arrested in the last five days. Meanwhile, the Saran Excise Department is also running a campaign to catch illegal liquor being transported from other states. Both the check posts of Saran district, Manjhi, and Bansoi of Mashrak police station aread, are under the scanner.

District Prohibition Superintendent Rajneesh said, "A total of seven samples of spirit were sent from Mashrak police station and two samples from Isuapur police station for investigation. The sample report did not reveal the presence of poison in the spirit." SP Santosh Kumar also said that the "Special Investigation Team consisting of 31 police officers and police personnel, including 3 deputy superintendents of police, has been constituted under the leadership of the police officer, Sonpur, to investigate the case."

A petition demanding an independent investigation has also been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the death due to spurious liquor. Advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak mentioned the petition before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha. The bench, however, declined to list the petition for urgent hearing and said that Pathak would have to go through due process for listing the matter.

The angry relatives of the deceased said, "men still get liquor illegally in the state. Where is the ban? If the police had acted in time, this major tragedy would have been averted. Now, who will look after our children?"