Toll at least 26: Struck by biggest hooch tragedy since liquor ban, Bihar forms SIT

The deaths took place between Tuesday and Thursday at Masrakh and Isuapur and Amnour blocks of Saran — the spurious country liquor was allegedly sold from the same tanker in all these areas.

Local residents said since several bodies are cremated without a postmortem — families often do not inform police and get an autopsy conducted under pressure from the “liquor mafia” — and the administration does not count those as hooch deaths. At Bahrauli panchayat of Masrakh, which reported 12 deaths, mukhiya (village head) Ajit Kumar Singh explained why cremation is often done with sending a body for autopsy: fear. “Bodies of three people — Chandeshwar Sah, Dudhnath Tiwari and Anil Thakur — were cremated without postmortem,” he said. “We live under tremendous fear of the liquor mafia; their agents are everywhere…”

Superintendent of Police, Saran, Santosh Kumar said four suspects have been arrested and an SIT has been set up to probe the matter.

Confirming 26 deaths, Saran district magistrate Rajesh Meena said: “Postmortem of 17 people have been done so far. We have prima facie found dereliction of duty on part of Marhaura sub divisional police officer Indrajit Baitha and recommended departmental action against him, as also his transfer. Masrakh police station in-charge Ritesh Kumar Mishra and thana chowkidar Vikesh Tiwari have been suspended.”

The DM also said, “We have conducted intensive raids across the district in the last 48 hours and nabbed 126 hooch traders. More than 4,000 litres of illicit liquor have also been seized,” he said.

Outside the state Assembly in Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told reporters, “Strict action is being taken in Chhapra (Saran) case.”

Nitish also said, “I have been warning people against drinking spurious liquor by repeating that piyoge to maroge (if you drink, you will die). But I want to know if people were not dying because of drinking spurious liquor before prohibition.”

Hitting back, Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and Nitish’s former deputy before he split from NDA, said that crores of people drink liquor in the country, and should all of them die. Modi told PTI, “Nitish Kumar imposed prohibition. So, it is his responsibility to ensure that it is successful. The entire government machinery is working on this one issue and still cannot do it.”

The BJP leader also said, “We (BJP) are not in favour of ending it (prohibition).”

At Bahrauli, Phulmati Devi lost her two sons to the tragedy — Kamlesh Sah (40) and Suraj Sah (25). The “younger boy”, she said, worked at a factory in Gujarat’s Surat and had stayed back after coming home for Chhath festival in October.

Amravati Devi’s husband, Chandeshwar Sah (60), who was “declared dead on arrival at a local hospital on Wednesday”, was cremated without a postmortem due to “pressure from some neighbours”, she said.

Asked about the supply channel, village head Ajit Singh said: “Countrymade liquor is not brewed locally. They are usually brought from UP in tankers, and liquor pouches are dropped at different locations.” Local suppliers, he said, make the last-mile delivery.

Another Bahrauli villager, requesting anonymity, identified at least a dozen locations in Masrakh and Amnour where, he said, liquor is sold. “We cannot believe it has been without the police’s knowledge. Home delivery is done with impunity. If anyone informs the police, he will face the risk of life from the liquor mafia.”

As the villages sit up and think clearly about the last three days, many are blaming the CM. “We knew from the first day that prohibition cannot be fully enforced. It is impossible to stop people from drinking. Had there been no prohibition, one would have been sure about their liquor being at least safe. Lekin Nitish to samaaj sudharak banana chahte hai (But Nitish wants to become a social reformer),” Ranjan Sah, a student, said, as many around him nodded in agreement.