Suspected hooch claims two lives in Bihar's Saran village

CHHAPRA: At least two persons died and 4 other fell critically ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Ramdaspur village under Bhorha panchayat under Panapur police station area in Saran district since Monday night.
The deceased were identified as Rohit Kumar (26), son of Harendra Prasad, and Mintu Sah (25), son of Bhikhari Sah. Munna Sah of Ramdaspur, Sunil Das of village Gareyapar, Lala Prasad and Mukesh Kumar of Madarpur village under Mashrakh police station were admitted to Chhapra Sadar hospital for treatment.
According to locals, they were engaged in construction work. After finishing their work on Monday evening, they allegedly consumed liquor, following which Rohit felt uneasiness in the night. He was rushed to Chhapra but died on the way. The sources said his family members performed his last rites without informing the police on Tuesday morning.
Mintu also complained of stomachache and other problems on Tuesday morning and died. The villagers alleged that the police wanted the body to be cremated, but they insisted on getting his postmortem done.
When contacted, Saran SP Santosh Kumar rejected the hooch theory and said the viscera of Mintu had been preserved and was being sent for forensic examination. Regarding those falling ill, the SP said all of them had recovered.
"After returning from the construction site, my husband, along with five others, went somewhere to consume liquor. When he returned at night, he started vomiting. He told us that he had consumed two glasses of liquor and refused to have dinner. After some time, his health deteriorated. We rushed him to a nearby primary health centre where the doctors declared him dead at arrival," the wife of one of the deceased told IANS.
In the meantime, the police are trying to know the exact place from where they had procured the liquor.