Muzaffarpur hooch death toll mounts to six

PATNA: The hooch death toll at Sirisiya and Manikpur villages under Kanti block in Muzaffarpur district rose to six as one more victim succumbed to spurious liquor late Wednesday night.
The deceased, Krishnanandan Ojha (35), was a resident of Kaparpura village under Manikpur Narottam panchayat. On Tuesday, Sikil Rai (65), Dilip Rai (53) and Sumit alias Gopi (28) had died. Rambabu Rai (67) and Ashok Rai (50) had died on Monday.
However, the bodies of Ashok Rai and Sumit were cremated without informing the police. Sikil and Dilip were admitted to a private hospital at Juran Chhapra in Muzaffarpur where they died on Tuesday.
DSP (West) Abhishek Anand confirmed Ojha’s death. He said altogether six persons, including a mukhiya candidate, have been arrested in connection with the hooch deaths. Raids were on to arrest others involved in the illegal liquor brewing and supply in the area, he added.
The local residents had complained to IG (Tirhut range) Ganesh Kumar that the mukhiya candidates had offered the victims country liquor free of cost, which led to their deaths. Initially, two deaths were reported, an investigating officer said.
The IG said the viscera report was still awaited. However, initial investigation revealed that the victims had consumed alcohol after which they complained of stomach ache, nausea and vomiting. They were admitted to the hospital where they died during treatment.
Meanwhile, JAP (Loktantrik) chief Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav visited the affected villages and alleged that the politician-police-mafia nexus should be exposed to check illegal supply of the banned commodity.