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Spurious Liquor
In a major breakthrough, the Bihar Police on Friday arrested five people, including the main accused, in the Saran hooch tragedy case, a senior officer said. A special investigation team, constituted by the state police in the incident, apprehended a homoeopathy compounder, allegedly the mastermind of the hooch tragedy that claimed 38 lives, Saran Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar said. "Police seized a vehicle, used for transporting chemicals from Uttar Pradesh and supplying liquors in and around Masrakh in Saran. Empty bottles of chemicals that were used in manufacturing spurious liquor were also recovered, the SP said. The SIT had earlier arrested nine people in connection with the case. "The preliminary investigation revealed that the mastermind with the help of his associates used to manufacture spurious liquor by mixing homoeopathy medicine and sugar. They (accused) used to supply illicit liquor in several areas of Saran district through their vendors or associates," he
The National Human Rights Commission has issued notices to the Bihar government and the state's police chief over the Saran hooch tragedy in which at least 30 people have died, officials said on Friday. The sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar in April 2016, though its "implementation has been patchy," the NHRC observed in a statement. The Saran hooch tragedy toll rose to 30 on Friday, the biggest since Bihar went dry more than six years ago, and it continued to cast a shadow on the state legislature where BJP members disrupted proceedings in both Houses before staging a Raj Bhavan march. However, unconfirmed reports claimed up to 50 people died by drinking illicitly brewed country liquor. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has "taken suo motu cognisance of the media reports that several people have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Saran district of Bihar," it said. The commission has observed that the contents of the media repor
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
At least three people in Chhapra area of Bihar's Saran district have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor amid reports that the toll is expected to climb, said police on Wednesday.Though the police in Ishauvpur have not confirmed the cause of "suspicious" deaths yet, they apprehended that the toll may rise which various sources put at five, six and 10."Three died, bodies sent for postmortem, these look like suspicious deaths. I have also received information that some more are receiving treatment at different places," SP S Kumar said.Madhepur DSP reached the spot and started the investigation. The police are searching for more sick people who might be in hiding to avoid interrogation as the sale and consumption of alcohol is completely banned in Bihar since April 2016.Among the deceased are Amit Ranjan, who died during treatment at Chhapra Sadar Hospital. The district police force have reached the hospital and taken Ranjan's body into custody. The police said that the cause .
Four men died in Haryana, ostensibly after consuming spurious drink, police said on Tuesday. Three of the deceased hailed from a village in Sonipat district while the other victim, who was their relative, hailed from neighbouring Panipat, the police said. Two of them worked in a sugar mill in Panipat, they said. "We cannot say whether they died due to consumption of spurious liquor. A post mortem will reveal the exact cause of death. However, preliminary investigations suggest that they consumed some spurious drink. What that drink was is a matter of investigation," said a police official in Sonipat. The men, all in their mid 30s, had consumed the drink on Sunday, the police added. "We are investigating where they consumed the drink and from where they had bought it," said the official.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday hailed the excise department's efforts to curb the supply and black-marketing of spurious liquor and increasing revenue, a government spokesperson said. Adityanath was speaking at an event where he congratulated 332 new constables on their recruitment to the excise department. He said, "Tireless efforts were made after 2017 to curb the supply of spurious liquor. Resultantly, the state managed to gather a revenue of about Rs 42,000 crore by the end of this year, in contrast to just Rs 12,000 crore in 2017. I urge all the newly-recruited constables to work as transparently and dedicatedly as the government did during their recruitment." The chief minister also expressed happiness on the recruitment of 109 women constables and said, "It is extremely heartening to see about 30% recruitment of women during the holy 'Sharadiya Navratri'. The government is committed to providing employment opportunities to the youth with utmost ...
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said no politician or public servant found complicit in the hooch tragedy that has claimed over 100 lives so far will be spared. The chief minister said he would finish off the liquor mafia in the state. Nobody will be allowed to get away with this, he added. The entire Punjab Police force has been tasked to crack down on the mafia, Singh said in a statement here. The death toll in the hooch tragedy has risen to 110. So far, 83 deaths have taken place in Tarn Taran district, followed by 14 in Gurdaspur's Batala and 13 in Amritsar. The tragedy has been unfolding since Wednesday evening in the three districts.