Since Wednesday (July 14), at least sixteen people have died mysteriously in a village in Bihar's West Champaran. The police in the area are probing a hooch tragedy and have detained five people for questioning. However, the family members of the deceased have denied any sort of alcohol consumption.
According to a report by HT, out of the sixteen, eight died on Friday (July 16) who hailed from Deurawa, Jogiya, and Bagahi villages. The cause of death could not be determined because the last rites were already performed.
“We have been told that around eight people died mysteriously in the past 2-3 days. Their family members and villagers have not mentioned alcohol consumption. FIR has been lodged and the probe is underway," said district magistrate Kundan Kumar.
He further added, "We have deployed medical teams at Deurawa and Bagahi villages to facilitate treatment for anyone with any symptoms."
“The investigation is underway. Officers concerned are working on it. The locals are not ready to talk about it. We are closely monitoring the situation,” Bihar Deputy CM Renu Devi told news agency ANI.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav criticised the Nitish Kumar led-government heavily. He also made a sarcastic remark stating that every year thousands of people die due to the influence of s[urious liquor under his 'good governance'.
“In Bihar, thousands of people are dying every year from spurious liquor under good governance. Under the garb of prohibition, ruling party people are running a parallel illegal economy of Rs 20,000 crores in Bihar. Lakhs of Dalits and poor are lodged in jails in the name of prohibition. Police have become corrupt and tyrannical,” Lalu Prasad Yadav said in a tweet.