At least four persons are said to have lost their lives after consuming spurious liquor in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on Tuesday, taking the hooch deaths to 45 in the state in the past one week.
The latest incident occurred at Sirasiya village under Kanti police station. The toll may increase as around half a dozen people are battling for their lives in hospitals.
However, Muzaffarpur senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jayant Kant put the number of deaths and those in hospitals at two each.
“Two people of Sirisiya have died while two others are hospitalised. They seem to have consumed spurious liquor. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. We will be able to confirm the cause of death only after recording the statements of the family members of the victims and studying the post-mortem reports,” the officer said.
Residents of Sirisiya identified the deceased as Sumit Kumar Rai, Ashok Kumar Rai, Dilip Rai and Ram Babu Rai.
“My husband consumed liquor with a few others on Monday night and came home complaining of nausea, stomach ache and pain in the entire body. After some time he started vomiting blood. We rushed him to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment,” said Shobha Devi, wife of Sumit who was a mason.
The incident comes on the heels of back-to-back hooch tragedies in Gopalganj, West Champaran and Samastipur districts. Another hooch incident has been reported in Muzaffarpur in October in which five people had died.
Police and excise officials launched raids in the Kanti police station area after the latest incident. Kanti SHO and two village chowkidars have been suspended.
Around 100 people have lost their lives after consuming hooch this year, putting a question mark on the success of prohibition in Bihar.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar has announced he will review the implementation of prohibition on November 16.