Siwan (Bihar): At least seven people have been reported dead and seven others are severely ill allegedly due to the consumption of spurious liquor in the Bala Village in Bihar's Siwan district. The police have arrested 12 people in the matter, while further investigation is underway. The authorities have however confirmed only three deaths officially.
"A total of three people have died after allegedly drinking spurious liquor in Siwan's Lakari Nabiganj. Seven people are undergoing treatment," District Magistrate Amit Kumar Pandey said on Sunday. Pandey further said that the cause of the death will be ascertained only after an autopsy report.
Four of the deceased have been identified as Naresh Bind, Janak Prasad, Ramesh Rawat, and Surendra Manjhi, while the identity of the remaining three is yet to be ascertained. Janak Prasad and Naresh Bind, 40-year-old sons of Laxman Prasad of the village, suddenly complained of pain in the stomach on Sunday night and both of their vision was affected. They were immediately rushed to the Siwan Sadar Hospital, where a team of doctors declared both dead after the initial check-up.
One more person, Ramesh Rawat, was admitted to the hospital with similar symptoms, and died during treatment. Naresh meanwhile, died in his house while he had passed out under heavy influence of alcohol. Bihar Public Grievance Redressal (PGRO) Abhishek Kumar Chandan and Sadar Hospital Manager Esrarulhaq alias Biju took stock of the situation at the hospital and contacted the relevant authorities. The officials across the village have been put on alert.
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Notably, the incident has come to light days after the Bihar Police recovered illicit liquor bottles hidden in a gutter in Danapur on December 21 last year. Ever since the case of deaths due to spurious liquor has come to the fore, the district administration has started running camps in the village. The sale and consumption of alcohol have been banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar-led government in April 2016.
In December last year, spurious liquor claimed the lives of over 50 people in Bihar's Chhapra and at least five people died after allegedly consuming hooch in the adjoining Siwan district. Angry family members of the deceased had obstructed the Siwan-Chapra Malmalia main road and undertook a protest. The bodies of the deceased were transported to Sadar Hospital in Siwan.
The deaths also caused an uproar both at the state and national levels with opposition leaders attacking Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the deaths and he in turn reiterating in the assembly "piyoge to maroge" (If you drink you will die).
Previously, a tragic incident of deaths was reported in December 2021 from Bihar's Saran district of Bihar's Chhapra in which over 70 people were killed due to consuming spurious liquor at a local joint. After the deaths, angry villagers blocked the Masrakh Hanuman Chowk on Bihar State Highway 90 and raised slogans against the district administration. The incident also triggered a political slugfest in the Bihar assembly, with opposition leaders mounting a strong attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the spate of spurious liquor deaths.
