News Analysis India

Tag: bihar hooch tragedy

  • SC to hear plea seeking SIT probe into Bihar Hooch Tragedy

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, on January 9, will hear a plea seeking SIT probe into the Bihar Hooch tragedy that claimed at least 70 lives in the Saran district earlier this month. 

    Advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak for Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation urged the bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha to list the plea.  “It will come up next Monday,” CJI DY Chandrachud remarked. 

    The plea had also sought the formulation of an action plan to curb the manufacturing, trading and sale of illicit liquor and adequate compensation to the victims’ families.

    It was argued in the plea that there is a need for a multi-pronged plan for the prevention and sale of spurious liquor.  “With political parties training their guns on each other, as many as 40 people have died so far after consuming spurious liquor, while others have been hospitalised and there is no official report on the incident,” the plea stated.

    It was further argued that the Bihar Tragedy had caused a furore in the country. 

    Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation in the petition has stated hooch is a kind of liquor which is cheap, brewed in small unregulated shanties and does not attract excise tax. “This inferior quality drink is usually made after mixing chemicals with water, which is then consumed by people,” the petition further added while contending that such liquor is more commonly sold in states that have imposed a full ban on liquor.

    It further stated, “Ever since the Bihar government prohibited liquor sale in the state in 2016, it has invited scathing criticism for its substantial failure to enforce the ban and for several adverse consequences that the move has thrust on the people there.”

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, on January 9, will hear a plea seeking SIT probe into the Bihar Hooch tragedy that claimed at least 70 lives in the Saran district earlier this month. 

    Advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak for Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation urged the bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha to list the plea.  “It will come up next Monday,” CJI DY Chandrachud remarked. 

    The plea had also sought the formulation of an action plan to curb the manufacturing, trading and sale of illicit liquor and adequate compensation to the victims’ families.

    It was argued in the plea that there is a need for a multi-pronged plan for the prevention and sale of spurious liquor.  “With political parties training their guns on each other, as many as 40 people have died so far after consuming spurious liquor, while others have been hospitalised and there is no official report on the incident,” the plea stated.

    It was further argued that the Bihar Tragedy had caused a furore in the country. 

    Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation in the petition has stated hooch is a kind of liquor which is cheap, brewed in small unregulated shanties and does not attract excise tax. “This inferior quality drink is usually made after mixing chemicals with water, which is then consumed by people,” the petition further added while contending that such liquor is more commonly sold in states that have imposed a full ban on liquor.

    It further stated, “Ever since the Bihar government prohibited liquor sale in the state in 2016, it has invited scathing criticism for its substantial failure to enforce the ban and for several adverse consequences that the move has thrust on the people there.”

  • Hooch tragedy: Eight more die in two other Bihar districts

    By PTI

    PATNA: Close on the heels of the hooch tragedy in dry Bihar that left 30 people dead in Saran district, eight more died allegedly after consuming some spurious liquor in two other districts, officials said on Saturday.

    Six people died in the Siwan district adjoining Saran, while Begusarai witnessed two other deaths.

    Unconfirmed reports claimed that up to 60 people died by drinking illicitly brewed country liquor in the Saran district. Even the official toll of 30 there is the biggest since Bihar went dry more than six years ago.

    About the six deaths in the Bhagwanpur division of Siwan district since Thursday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said the administration has initiated an investigation. “We are also carrying searches in the area to nab those who indulge in the sale and purchase of liquor,” Kumar said.

    On the Begusari incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandramohan Prasad told reporters that two youths died after consuming “some poisonous chemical” in the Teghra division on Friday. “We have sent bodies for post-mortem examination. Investigations are on,” he said.

    ALSO READ | BJP intensifies attack on Nitish over hooch tragedy

    The sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April 2016. However, the smuggling of liquor continues unabated in the state, notwithstanding the ongoing drive against bootleggers.

    The police on early Saturday recovered several cartons of liquor from a truck in the Sadar police station area in Muzaffarpur district. The cartons were hidden below wooden planks.

    In Siwan, the district which shares its border with Saran, four people died in Brahmsthan village on Friday and another person died in Sondhani village on Thursday. One more person, a resident of the Saran district, also died in Siwan on Friday.

    Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who had visited the affected Mashrak block in Saran on Thursday, claimed inside the Assembly on Friday that the hooch tragedy has “claimed more than 100 lives.”

    Saran District Magistrate Rajesh Meena said that the deaths were “caused by suspected consumption of spurious liquor” which would be confirmed after the viscera of the deceased are examined at forensic labs.

    The National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Bihar government and the state’s police chief over the Saran hooch tragedy on Friday.

    ALSO READ | Plea in SC seeks SIT probe into Bihar hooch tragedy, compensation for victims’ kin

    PATNA: Close on the heels of the hooch tragedy in dry Bihar that left 30 people dead in Saran district, eight more died allegedly after consuming some spurious liquor in two other districts, officials said on Saturday.

    Six people died in the Siwan district adjoining Saran, while Begusarai witnessed two other deaths.

    Unconfirmed reports claimed that up to 60 people died by drinking illicitly brewed country liquor in the Saran district. Even the official toll of 30 there is the biggest since Bihar went dry more than six years ago.

    About the six deaths in the Bhagwanpur division of Siwan district since Thursday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said the administration has initiated an investigation. “We are also carrying searches in the area to nab those who indulge in the sale and purchase of liquor,” Kumar said.

    On the Begusari incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandramohan Prasad told reporters that two youths died after consuming “some poisonous chemical” in the Teghra division on Friday. “We have sent bodies for post-mortem examination. Investigations are on,” he said.

    ALSO READ | BJP intensifies attack on Nitish over hooch tragedy

    The sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April 2016. However, the smuggling of liquor continues unabated in the state, notwithstanding the ongoing drive against bootleggers.

    The police on early Saturday recovered several cartons of liquor from a truck in the Sadar police station area in Muzaffarpur district. The cartons were hidden below wooden planks.

    In Siwan, the district which shares its border with Saran, four people died in Brahmsthan village on Friday and another person died in Sondhani village on Thursday. One more person, a resident of the Saran district, also died in Siwan on Friday.

    Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, who had visited the affected Mashrak block in Saran on Thursday, claimed inside the Assembly on Friday that the hooch tragedy has “claimed more than 100 lives.”

    Saran District Magistrate Rajesh Meena said that the deaths were “caused by suspected consumption of spurious liquor” which would be confirmed after the viscera of the deceased are examined at forensic labs.

    The National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Bihar government and the state’s police chief over the Saran hooch tragedy on Friday.

    ALSO READ | Plea in SC seeks SIT probe into Bihar hooch tragedy, compensation for victims’ kin

  • Yet another hooch tragedy suspected in Bihar, two dead in Muzaffarpur

    By PTI

    MUZAFFARPUR: Two persons have died in yet another suspected hooch tragedy in Bihar, a dry state where consumption of spurious liquor has claimed more than 40 lives in less than a fortnight. The latest casualties have taken place in Muzaffarpur district where two men died in a village under Kanti police station on Monday after allegedly consuming spurious liquor.

    According to Muzaffarpur SSP Jayant Kant, both the deceased were residents of Sirasiya village, where two others fell ill after consuming the liquor and were admitted to a hospital for treatment.

    “The bodies have been taken for post mortem. We are recording the statements of bereaved family members as well as by those who have been hospitalized. Based on the statements we will be able to confirm whether liquor was consumed,” the SSP said.

    The incident took place close to the Saraiya police station area where five people had died after consuming spurious liquor in the last week of October. This was followed by hooch tragedies in West Champaran, Gopalganj and Samastipur districts around Deepawali which together accounted for 40 deaths.

    The Muzaffarpur SSP said, “We have launched a major crackdown on traders of spirit at Saraiya who have been suspected of manufacturing illicit liquor.” Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government five and a half years ago.

  • Hooch tragedy claims lives of 8 people in dry Bihar

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: A hooch tragedy taking the lives of 8 people in West Champaran district of dry Bihar on Thursday marred the festivity of Deepawali. This was the second such hooch tragedy reported in the last 2 days in the state. 

    So far in the last 2 days, 17 people had died after consuming spurious liquor in Bihar’s Gopalganj and West Champaran districts.  As per the reports received here from Bihar, 9 people had lost their lives on Wednesday after consuming spurious liquor late on Tuesday night at Mohammadpur village in Gopalganj district.

    A day after that hooch tragedy, eight more people-all aged between 25 and 50 years, have reportedly lost their lives on the day of Deepawali, allegedly after  consuming spurious liquor  at Tulhua village under Nautan block in West Champaran. West Champaran is the neighbouring district of Gopalganj and some of its parts share with the Nepal border also.

    Confirming the deaths of 8 persons due to consuming spurious liquor, DM of West Champaran Kundan Kumar said that actions have been taken to arrest the liquor peddlers and suppliers from across the areas on war footing and 4 persons have been detained by police for interrogation into the liquor-related deaths case.

    Meanwhile, police sources said that around 14 other people, who have consumed the spurious liquor, are going are under medical treatment in Gopalganj and West Champaran districts from Wednesday to Thursday. This was the fifth hooch tragedy in dry Bihar reported in the last few months.  On July 16 in same West Champaran district, 16 people had died suspectedly after gulping spurious liquor.

    On October 28 and 29, 8 people had died in the same circumstances after they allegedly drank spurious liquor in Muzaffarpur district. In the same way, 4 persons had died after consuming spurious liquor in Siwan on October 24.

    In fact, the Nitish Kumar-led government has brought the Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act into effect in Bihar with effect from April 5 in 2016. The state completed the five of years of prohibition on April 5 this year with a claim of lodging more than 2,22,015 cases of violation of prohibitions and record arrests of 2,79,360 till that day.

    Meanwhile, Tejashwi Yadav- RJD leader of opposition in the state legislative assembly alleged that the state government has failed to check the sale and supply of spurious liquor in dry state. “The police are disposing off the bodies of hooch tragedy deceased without the post-mortem of the bodies. Is not Nitish Kumar-the CM–cum –Home minister, who is making tall claims on prohibitions, responsible for these deaths”, Tejashwi Yadav said.

    Yadav further alleged that a parallel black economy of 20,000 crore of illegal smuggling of liquor in Bihar after the imposition of a total prohibition, runs in the state.

    RJD chief Lalu Prasad also on Thursday accused the state government of being insensitive towards the deaths occurred due to spurious liquor. “ In the last few weeks, more than 50 people had died after consuming spurious liquor but CM Nitish Kumar  does not speak even a word of condolence over the deaths”, Lalu Prasad alleged after the deaths of 8 in West Champaran on Thursday.