Bihar: Hooch claims 3 lives in Muzaffarpur, toll 59

PATNA: There was no respite from hooch tragedies in dry Bihar as three more people died after consuming poisonous liquor on Tuesday – this time at Kanti in Muzaffarpur district. One person, who fell ill after consuming spurious liquor, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kanti.
IG (Tirhut range) Ganesh Kumar rushed to Kanti soon after receiving information about the hooch deaths.The incident, which occurred despite a massive crackdown on liquor smugglers after the recent hooch deaths in Gopalganj, West Champaran and Samastipur districts, has left the police red-faced.
At least 59 people have lost their lives in seven hooch cases in the state in less than a month. According to police sources, 17 hooch incidents since January this year have claimed at least 112 lives in the state.
“Family members of the victims from Kanti have told police that they (those who died) had consumed liquor during campaigning for the panchayat election on November 7,” Muzaffarpur SSP Jayant Kant told TOI over phone.
He said bodies of two victims were cremated by their family members without the knowledge of the police. “Post-mortem was conducted on the body of one of the victims. The report is awaited. It seems that the victim had consumed spurious liquor and fallen ill on Monday,” the SSP added.
DSP (west) Abhishek Anand said those who died on Tuesday were identified as Sumit Kumar alias Gopi Patel (25) of Sirisiya village, Ashok Rai (50) of Bariyarpur village and Rambabu Rai (67) of Kaparpuri village, all under the Kanti police station area. “One Dilip Rai (53) of Bariyarpur is undergoing treatment at a private hospital,” he added.
“Rambabu had died in course of treatment at the hospital. He had lost his vision and was also suffering from stomach ache,” he said.
The DSP added Sumit and Ashok were also under treatment at a private hospital, but their family members took them home where they died on Tuesday morning. “Their bodies were cremated by the family members before the police could do anything. Only Rambabu’s body could be sent for post-mortem,” he said.