Toll in Bihar hooch tragedy rises to 22

All the 22 deaths were reported from Paharpur, Tukoulia, Harsiddhi and Saguali areas of the district. Till Saturday evening, 14 persons had died.

Fourteen persons are undergoing treatment in various hospitals of Motihari and Muzaffarpur. However, postmortem of only six persons could be conducted as other bodies had been cremated before the police reached the spot.

Primary investigation has identified Turkaulia as the suspected place from where illicit liquor was being sold.

Earlier this year, 72 persons were killed in Saran in a similar incident. Meanwhile, leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha, accused the state administration of “protecting liquor mafias who are associated with the ruling JD(U) and the RJD”.The party will approach the National Human Rights Commission and other such central bodies to conduct a “probe into the hooch tragedy”, former state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal said.

A team of BJP leaders visited some of the villages in the district where the suspected hooch tragedy was reported on Saturday.“I, along with my party leaders, visited Sugauli and Paharpur in Motihari. These are the villages where the maximum deaths took place. We found that the number of persons who died due to consumption of liquor was being suppressed by the district administration.” Sinha alleged that the state government and its officials are “busy in minimising the gravity of the tragedy”.

“What is even more disturbing is that the district authorities are not making efforts to properly record and report active incidents of death due to consumption of liquor. The Nitish Kumar government is protecting liquor mafias who are associated with JD(U) and RJD,” Sinha said. JD(U) and RJD leaders could not be contacted for comments.

Jaiswal also alleged that the Motihari incident was “simply a mass murder by the state government”. “We have come to know that the affected families tried to avoid informing the police that their loved ones died due to consumption of spurious liquor. This was due to perceived fear of legal consequences for reporting the matter to the authorities,” he said.

The district police have also seized huge quantities of spurious liquor and other related chemicals following searches at more than 600 places in different parts of Motihari in last 24 hours.“Police recovered 370 litres of country-made liquor, 50 litres of spirit and 1,150 litres of other chemicals used in the manufacturing of spurious liquor,” statement added. Notably, incidents of smuggling of liquor continue to be reported from state, notwithstanding the ongoing drive against bootleggers.