Bihar Hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 35 after 10 more casualties

PATNA: The toll in the hooch tragedy in Siwan and Saran districts of Bihar rose to 35 after 10 more deaths were reported, officials said on Friday.
Siwan District Magistrate (DM) Mukul Kumar Gupta said a total of 79 people were admitted to Siwan Sadar Hospital and Basantpur Primary Health Centre. Of them, 13 patients were referred to the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) for treatment because their condition was serious and 30 others were discharged.
“The post-mortem of the 28 deceased has been completed, and their bodies have been handed over to their families,” Gupta added.
Siwan Superintendent of Police (SP) Amitesh Kumar said 28 people have died in Siwan’s Bhagwanpur, Madhar, Khaira, and Koudia villages over the last four days and 10 people have been arrested in this connection.
Saran DM Aman Samir said 60 people fell ill due to spurious liquor in the district and most of them were rushed to Sadar Hospital for treatment. Nine are still being treated at the hospital while 19 have been referred to PMCH for treatment.
Saran SP Kumar Ashish and Aman Samir said seven persons from the district had died due to illegally made liquor in the last four days.
Kumar Ashish added that the special investigation team which was set up to investigate the hooch tragedy, has arrested 25 people including 10 liquor traders and, and seized liquor from them.
In the last 24 hours, the Saran police conducted 307 raids in which police seized and destroyed 19,082 liters of raw material and caught 62 people. In all, 30 FIRs have been registered and six motorcycles and an e-rickshaw have been seized.
Bihar’s deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha said the government had taken the incident very seriously.
“The government is also investigating the people who are behind this. Their faces will also be exposed and those who are playing with the lives of the poor people of Bihar will not be spared at any cost. People doing liquor business become candidates from the RJD. The liquor ban has been implemented with everyone’s consent. Everyone should cooperate to implement it completely and stop the game of saving such criminals,” he said.