The toll in the hooch tragedy in Nawada district of Bihar climbed to 14 on Friday as eight more persons died over the past two days after allegedly consuming spurious liquor. Worried over the deaths, chief minister Nitish Kumar sent a special team from Patna to investigate the incident.

The latest deaths took the total hooch toll in the dry state since Holi to 16.

The figure could climb further as several people in serious condition are still undergoing treatment in various hospitals in Nawada and Patna. Two persons have lost their eyesight.

“I asked my senior officials about whatever is happening. They all are probing the incident. Some officials have gone from here also.

“The officials there (in Nawada) are saying something, but what has come out in the newspapers is something else. I have sent a special team from here. I will oversee and investigate everything. It will take all necessary action in the case,” Nitish told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Residents of Kharidi Bigha and Gondapur villages in Nawada, including the family members of the deceased, have alleged that the deaths happened due to the consumption of spurious liquor, but the district administration has been trying to deny the hooch angle.

Ramdhani Sao was the latest victim of the alleged hooch tragedy when he breathed his last at a hospital in Nawada on Friday.

“He asked for money. I told him he must not spend it to drink. But he came back with liquor and consumed it on Holi. He fell ill the same evening and was hospitalised the next day. He died today (Friday),” said Soni Devi, daughter-in-law of Ramdhani.

The villagers have also named a few people who were selling liquor on the occasion of Holi.

Nawada district magistrate Yash Pal Meena and superintendent of police D.S. Savlaram held a news conference on Friday to deny that all the deaths were caused due to the consumption of hooch.

They asserted that only 10 people have died so far and due to various other reasons.

“There have been 10 deaths so far. Of these, we have got information about the cause of death of five persons, who have died of different reasons.

“One of them died of a heart attack, two from diarrhoea, another due to epilepsy and one from natural causes and not due to eating or drinking anything,” Savlaram said.