Two people died and three others lost their sight in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district on Sunday after reportedly taking counterfeit spirits, officials claimed, in a near repetition of the horrible events of April this year, news agency ANI reported. Police identified the dead as Umesh Shah and Dharmendra Ram. According to police, a team was dispatched to the scene after learning of the potential bogus liquor fatalities. The police also stated that two persons were detained in connection with the alleged bogus liquor fatalities.
Speaking with ANI, Muzaffarpur SP Abhishek Dixit said: "We received information that two people died after health took a turn for the worse all of a sudden. Preliminary inquiry has revealed that they had consumed countrymade liquor. We have arrested two persons in connection with these deaths."
In April of this year, 27 people were killed by bogus liquor in Motihari, Bihar.
In the aftermath of the alleged hooch deaths, Motihari's SP Kantesh Kumar Mishra suspended five station house officers (SHOs), two Anti-Liquor Task Force (ALTF) soldiers, and nine police watchmen (chowkidars). In response to the fatalities, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar promised an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh apiece to the family of the deceased, on the condition that they sign a written pledge to follow the state's prohibition policy.
"The deaths are unfortunate. We'll provide Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased from the CM Relief Fund. However, they should also give us an undertaking in writing that they are in favour of the liquor ban currently in force in the state and that they are against liquor addiction," the Bihar CM was quoted by ANI in its report.
Under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act of 2016, Nitish Kumar's administration had enacted a liquor prohibition across the state.
Since 2016, when Bihar's liquor prohibition legislation went into effect, there have been 199 official hooch fatalities (if suspected hooch deaths are added, the number rises to 269) and 30 charges filed, but no one has been convicted, Indian Express had reported earlier this year. Thirteen persons were acquitted by the Patna High Court in July last year after being convicted by a lower court in the 2016 Gopalganj hooch death case. According to the state police list, the year 2022 had the most deaths, with 114, followed by 64 in 2021.
Disagreements have been brewing between the Bihar government and opposition over the hooch deaths in the state for a long time. Earlier in August this year, Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had demanded the lifting of liquor ban in the state as it is impacting the life of the working class people. Speaking with reporters, Jitan Ram Manjhi had stated: "Five lakh people have been jailed, out of which 3.5 lakh are labourers who may have consumed little liquor after a day's work. We don't want such a law."