Hooch claims 13 lives in Bihar

At least 13 people died in a hooch tragedy in Bihar’s Gopalganj district on Wednesday. The deceased are believed to have consumed spurious liquor on Tuesday night. After some of them started vomiting, they were referred to Sadar Hospital, where they died on Wednesday morning.

Though the district administration maintained that the reason for the death is not clear, Gopalganj district magistrate Rahul Kumar constituted a probe panel and asked it to submit a report at the earliest.

Confirming the death of 13 people, Kumar said, “The deaths have taken place at different places. We are trying to ascertain the reason behind the incident.”

“Some of the relatives of the deceased have said that they had consumed illicit liquor the previous night. We are verifying their statements, ” Kumar said.

The commissioner, IG, DIG and other senior officials are camping in the district. The police and district administration have taken possession of five bodies for post-mortem, while the remaining bodies were cremated in a hurry by the relatives as they feared police action in a state which has been declared dry since April.

Reports from Gopalganj said most of the deceased had consumed spurious liquor at Khazoorbani in the district.

Later on Wednesday, the police raided the place and recovered a huge quantity of country-made liquor hidden deep in the fields and underground.