Hooch makes two partially blind in Bihar's Gopalganj

PATNA: At least two persons developed partial blindness at Majhaulia village in Gopalganj district where two daily wagers from Gumla in Jharkhand had died due to suspected hooch two days back. Liquor is banned in Bihar.
Gopalganj SP Anand Kumar said actually three daily wagers working at the Majhaulia kiln had died on Wednesday. He suspended Vijaypur police station SHO Manoj Kumar and Majhaulia village chowkidar Amresh Yadav on Friday for dereliction of duty, including ‘intelligence failure’ on liquor smuggling.
The persons who developed blindness were identified as Ramdhyan Sah (78) and Tilakdhari Yadav (64). Police said both developed complications on Thursday night.
Anand told TOI over phone that the two persons who developed partial blindness on Friday had consumed ‘liquor type substance’ at least two to three days back. “An FIR was registered against one Subhash Gaur and his family members on Friday for smuggling and selling liquor at Majhaulia. Gaur’s sisters Sunita Devi and Kiran Devi were arrested,” he said.
The SP said Gaur’s residence was extensively searched but no liquor was found. “Divers searched the nearby pond also but found nothing,” he said. Gaurwasevading arrest.
Regarding the Wednesday deaths, he said one person’s body was already taken to Gumla by his family members. “His postmortem was conducted there after contacting Gumla administration. His viscera has been preserved,” he said.
Karma Panna (50) and Buddhua Panna (48) of Gumla had died within hours of suffering from abdominal pain and breathlessness.
The SP, however, denied that Ramavadh Yadav (60) and his son Kashi Yadav (30) and Kedar Yadav (70) had died at Khutaha village since Wednesday night. “Ramvadh died after prolonged illness on Wednesday night and Kashi died of shock on Thursday morning. Police quizzed the villagers and their family members but nothing related to liquor surfaced,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hathua SDPO Naresh Kumar said Ramdhyan and Tilakdhari confessed that they had consumed liquor supplied by Gaur a few days back. “The duo told police that Gaur smuggles liquor pouches from Uttar Pradesh and sells at Majhaulia. Gaur’s sisters were also involved in selling liquor,” he said.
The SDPO said Ramdhyan and Tilakdhari were undergoing treatment, but they were also made accused in the FIR registered on the complaint of new Vijaypur SHO Sanjeet Kumar. He said massive survey is going on in villages under Vijaypur police station area after the hooch deaths to know who others are ill.
3 die in Muzaffarpur under mysterious circumstances: Three persons, identified as Ramchandra Manjhi (70), his wife Manju Devi (67) and Vinod Manjhi (45), died at village Dargah under Katra police station area in Muzaffarpur under mysterious circumstances since Wednesday night. Katra police station SHO Sikandar Kumar said the couple died at their home on Wednesday night and were cremated by the family members. Kumar said police came to know that the couple was suffering from asthma. He said police received information about their deaths on Thursday evening. Vinod also died at home on Thursday night. Kumar said Vinod had undergone treatment at Katra primary health centre for tuberculosis. He said Vinod’s postmortem was conducted on Friday. Muzaffarpur DSP (east) Manoj Kumar Pandey said an FIR against unknown persons was registered with Katra police station on the chowkidar’s statement for investigating the entire matter. “Strong rumours are circulating that the three deaths took place due to hooch. If the deaths were found due to natural causes, action would be taken against those who had spread rumours,” he added.