7 yrs since Bihar liquor ban: 199 deaths, 30 hooch cases but no conviction yet, says police data

This is the gist of 10-page internal list of Bihar Police on spurious liquor death cases from 2016 till 2023. The list does not include the latest East Champaran case in which 26 people have died so far after consuming illicit liquor.

This is the first time the state police headquarters has prepared a cumulative list of seven years with status of all 30 cases, including 10 in which 10 or more people died because of consumption of illicit liquor. The state police list showed that 2022 saw the maximum of 114 deaths, followed by 64 deaths in 2021.

The list confirms 42 deaths in Saran in December 2022. It also puts “72” as total suspected deaths in the list. The National Human Rights Commission in its recent inquiry report on Saran had put the “total deaths at 72”, pulling up the state government for “under-reporting” spurious liquor deaths.

The state police’s status report on investigation into 30 spurious liquor death cases shows that 29 probes have not reached a logical end.

Chargesheets have been filed in 22 cases against 40 persons. The only case in which the accused were convicted was the 2016 Gopalganj hooch tragedy in which 19 people died. The Gopalganj court had handed over death sentence to nine and lifer to four but the Patna High Court acquitted all for “lack of corroborative evidence”.

Even though Nitish boasted of speedy trial in liquor cases, the police status report does not give any such hint. Seven major cases lodged between April 2021 and April 2022 are at the stage of recording of witnesses and framing of charges. These include April 2021 Nawada case (21 deaths), July 2021 Lauria, West Champaran, (12 deaths), November 2021 Nautan, West Champaran, (10 deaths), November 2021 Mahmadpur, Gopalganj, (10 deaths) and January 2022 Sohsarai, Nalanda, (12 deaths).

While the latest police report does not mention status of overall liquor cases, other police reports say that over 3.75 lakh cases have been lodged under the liquor law with over 4.25 lakh arrests. Over 90 per cent of these cases are related to consumption of liquor. Over 25,000 have been still lodged in 57 jails across the state having capacity to house 57,000 inmates, for violation of the liquor ban.

Nitish’s U-turn: ex gratia for victims’ kin

Patna: Making a U-turn on paying compensation to the victims of hooch tragedies in dry Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday announced ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of those who died after consuming spurious liquor in East Champaran last week. The toll in the tragedy rose to 26 on Monday with four more deaths, police said. “We have decided to give ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. But, the family members will have to give in writing to the district magistrate concerned that the death took place after consuming illicit liquor. They will have to disclose the source from where the alcohol was procured,” Nitish told reporters. This is a reversal of his earlier stand when he denied compensation to families of those who died after consuming hooch in Saran in December 2022. “Jo piyega woh marega” (those who will drink spurious alcohol will die), said the CM, drawing flak from Opposition parties and various other quarters. —ENS/PTI