Death toll rises to 26 in Bihar hooch tragedy

The death toll in a suspected hooch tragedy in Bihars East Champaran district rose to 26 on Monday with four more people losing their lives after consuming the spurious liquor in Motihari SP Kantesh Kumar Mishra saidTwenty more are undergoing treatment at Sadar and different hospitals in the district he saidThe district police suspended SHOs of Turkauliya Harsiddhi Sugauli and Paharpur police stations and Raghunathpur outpost on the charge of dereliction of duties East Champaran SP saidWith four more deaths in the last ten hours the toll has now increased to 26 Besides five station house officers of police stations concerned have been suspended after the incident Mishra told PTIDisciplinary actions were taken against 11 police personnel including nine chowkidars on Sunday he said adding that the district police have so far registered five cases and the investigation into the hooch tragedy is underwayThe East Champaran police have also arrested 80 people for allegedly being involved in the illegal trade of liquor in the districtHuge quantities of spurious liquor and other related chemicals were seized during searches at more than 600 places in different parts of Motihari where deaths due to the consumption of illicit alcohol were first reported on April 15Also Read Kapil Sibal raises questions on Atiq killing says art of eliminationPolice recovered 370 litres of countrymade liquor 50 litres of spirit and 1150 litres of other chemicals used in the manufacturing of spurious liquor the administration said in a statement on SundayThe opposition BJP termed the hooch tragedy in Motihari as a mass murder by the Nitish Kumar governmentLeader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly Vijay Kumar Sinha had on Sunday accused the state administration of protecting liquor mafias who are associated with the ruling JDU and the RJDThe 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 saidThe Nitish Kumar government imposed a ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol on April 5 2016Notably incidents of smuggling of liquor continue to be reported from the state notwithstanding the ongoing drive against bootleggersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever