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Journalism of Courage
At least eight people are suspected to have died after drinking spurious liquor in Bihar’s Saran district. This led to an ill-tempered exchange between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP in the Assembly in the morning. The BJP also raised the matter in Delhi during the Lok Sabha’s Zero Hour.
Three suspected hooch deaths were first reported from Doila village in Saran’s Isuapur police station area on Tuesday. Then, five more suspected deaths linked to illicit liquor were reported from the village of Masrakh. While district officials put the number of deaths at eight, locals claimed 14 people died.
A row broke out in the Assembly on Wednesday when Leader of Opposition (LoP) Vijay Kumar Sinha described the state’s liquor law as a “failed policy”. He rushed to the well of the House with several BJP MLAs to register his protest and demanded that the CM tender an apology to the victims’ kin. It provoked Nitish who rose from his chair to shout, “Kya hua? Chup raho (What happened? Keep quiet)!” He went on to blame the BJP — the former alliance partner of his Janata Dal (United) — for not “cooperating with the government” in making Prohibition a success across the state. In response, the BJP created pandemonium and walked out of the Assembly.
Sinha later told reporters, “The Chhapra hooch tragedy is a massacre because of the government’s failed liquor policy … Never have I been addressed as ‘tum’ in the House before. It is against basic parliamentary decorum. So long as the CM does not apologise to us, we will not allow the Assembly to function.”
BJP MLA Janak Singh, who represents Taraiya in Saran, told reporters, “I have a list of 11 people who died till Tuesday evening. As per the information available to me, at least three more deaths have taken place on Tuesday. Since post-mortems are not being conducted, the government is confirming only eight deaths so far.”
In Delhi, the BJP piled pressure on Nitish — who has dropped broad hints at his interest in heading an Opposition coalition in the 2024 general elections — with Maharajganj MP Janardan Singh Sigriwal raising the issue in the Lok Sabha. He claimed that hundreds of people die every day in Bihar because of consuming illicit liquor and demanded immediate suspension of the district Superintendent of Police.
Asked about the fatality count, Saran Civil Surgeon Dr SD Sinha told reporters, “We have received eight bodies so far.” Asked if all of them died after drinking hooch, Sinha said, “Their symptoms suggest so. The final confirmation can be given only after the post-mortem.”
Sinha said at least six more people undergoing treatment at the hospital had been admitted following complaints of stomach ache, headache, and vomiting.
Since January 2021, at least 150 people in Bihar have died in 14 incidents of alleged consumption of spurious liquor. These incidents have occurred in districts such as Saran, Nalanda, Vaishali, East Champaran, West Champaran, Nawada, and Bhagalpur. The Nitish Kumar government has maintained a complete prohibition on liquor since 2016.
