Hooch Deaths

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday a petition seeking an independent probe by a special investigation team (SIT) into the last month's hooch tragedy in Bihar which claimed many lives will be heard on January 9. The plea about the tragedy in Saran district, where at least 30 people lost their lives after consuming illicit liquor, has also sought a direction to the state government to adequately compensate the victim families. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha. "It will come up next Monday," the bench told advocate Pawan Prakash Pathak who mentioned the matter. Bihar's Nitish Kumar government imposed a complete prohibition in April 2016 and has rejected the demand for compensation to the families of those who died after consuming spurious liquor. The petition, filed in the apex court by Bihar-based Aryavarta Mahasabha Foundation, has arrayed the Centre and the state of Bihar as respondents.

Police said the arrested people used to manufacture spurious liquor from chemicals and sugar in homoeopathic medicines

BJP's firebrand leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh has said that the Saran liquor tragedy took place due to the pathetic law and order situation in Bihar

Amid the hooch deaths in Bihar's Chhapra, with the toll currently at 72, the Saran Police on Monday launched Operation 'Clean Drive' against the sale and consumption of alcohol in the state

Two days after senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad alleged that the spurious liquor which claimed scores of lives in dry Bihar were made with spirits seized by the Saran Police, S K Singhal, the director general of police, on Monday rubbished the claim as "baseless". Singhal, speaking with reporters here, said a probe is underway into the hooch tragedy, and anyone found involved in the preparation, sale or distribution of liquor would face strict action. The Nitish Kumar government on Monday put at 38 the number of people who died in the Saran hooch tragedy, even as the opposition BJP claimed that the toll have crossed 100. A delegation of BJP leaders had on December 17 visited Mashrakh and other areas in Saran district and met the family members of the deceased. Tarkishore Prasad, the former deputy chief minister, had later said that the "majority of the victims died after consuming a specific type of liquor, which was made with spirits seized and stocked at a police ...

Based on latest available data, of the 947 deaths due to spurious liquor in 2020, a majority were in Madhya Pradesh (214), Jharkhand (139), and Punjab (133)

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Saturday drew flak, from adversaries as well as allies, over its adamant refusal to give compensation to family members of those who have died in the Saran hooch tragedy. The administration has confirmed only 30 deaths since Tuesday night, following suspected consumption of spurious liquor, making it the biggest hooch tragedy in the state since it went dry over six years ago. However, the opposition BJP has claimed, inside the state assembly as well as in a memorandum submitted to Governor Phagu Chauhan that the number of deaths was "more than 100", a view echoed by Chirag Paswan, an NDA sympathizer and strident critic of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "I visited Saran today to meet the bereaved family members and was appalled to learn that the administration was putting pressure on them not to report deaths caused by hooch or attribute these to other causes so that the magnitude of the tragedy is downplayed. I am told that the number of those w

Close on the heels of the hooch tragedy in dry Bihar that left 30 people dead in Saran district, eight more died allegedly after consuming some spurious liquor in two other districts, officials said on Saturday. Six people died in Siwan district adjoining Saran, while Begusarai witnessed two other deaths. Unconfirmed reports claimed that up to 60 people died by drinking illicitly brewed country liquor in Saran district. Even the official toll of 30 there is the biggest since Bihar went dry more than six years ago. About the six deaths in Bhagwanpur division of Siwan district since Thursday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sanjay Kumar said the administration has initiated an investigation. We are also carrying searches in the area to nab those who indulge in the sale and purchase of liquor, Kumar said. On the Begusari incident, Deputy Superintendent of Police Chandramohan Prasad told reporters that two youths died after consuming some poisonous chemical in Teghra division on Friday. W

The Bihar hooch tragedy toll climbed to 28 with two more deaths reported, a top Saran district official said. Saran District Magistrate Rajesh Meena told PTI, "The suspected hooch death has increased to 28 (till Thursday night) in the district". The DM said that action has also been initiated against officials concerned. "We have also conducted intensive raids across the district in the last 48 hours and nabbed 126 hooch traders. More than 4,000 litres of illicit liquor have also been seized," he told reporters on Thursday. Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar, had declined to divulge whether the arrested persons included those directly involved in the latest hooch case, saying that "the matter is still under investigation and disclosing much at this stage could hamper the probe". "For speedy investigation, an SIT consisting of 31 police officials, headed by an additional SP and including three deputy SPs, has also been set up", the district magistrate had said. The DM and the

After Bihar's hooch toll climbed to 26, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday warned that if people drink spurious liquor, they will die, as the prohibition policy of his government came under attack from left, right and centre. Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor described the state's prohibition law as a farce and demanded scrapping of the prohibition law. "Jo piyega woh marega" (those who drink spurious alcohol will die), thundered Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who stood his ground maintaining that prohibition was not my personal wish but a response to the cries of the women of the state. He also expressed displeasure over criticisms from the opposition BJP which has raised the issue even inside Parliament. Civil surgeon and medical officer in charge Dr Sagar Dulal Sinha said deaths were being reported from those homes in affected villages where a family member falling ill after consuming intoxicants was not reported out of fear of landing on the wrong sid

'If your police is not able to implement your law and policies then you should resign'

Targetting the Opposition, the CM said, "BJP leaders should go in public and make people aware about the benefits of liquor ban in Bihar"

Bihar minister Sunil Kumar "vowed' that govt would take "strict action" against culprits responsible for deaths

A day after the hooch tragedy in Bihar's Saran district, the death toll on Friday reached nine, and 17 people lost their eyesight.

The Aam Aadmi Party will hold a protest outside the BJP headquarters here on Wednesday against the Hooch tragedy in the saffron party-ruled Gujarat . The death toll due to the consumption of spurious liquor in Gujarat's Botad district went up to 28, according to a senior state police offical . "It's murder," AAP leader Durgesh Pathak said in a tweet on Tuesday, alleging people lost their lives after consuming spurious liquor sold under the patronage of the BJP government in the state. The AAP will protest against it on Wednesday at 1 pm in front of the BJP's headquarters in Delhi, he added.

Primary investigations have revealed some small-time bootleggers of different villages of Botad district had made spurious liquor or hooch by mixing water with methyl alcohol or methanol

In India, the number of hooch tragedies has only gone up. According to a report in ABP live, India sees the death of 3 people every day due to the consumption of spurious liquor

Eight people died on Friday and five more are hospitalised after allegedly consuming spurious liquor supplied by a contracted vendor, police said here

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) alleged that the liquor mafia in the state had paid money to the Congress to "thwart" any probe into the "illegal liquor trade"

Singh also spoke to the families and took ground assessment of the action taken against the culprits