Lagatar24 Desk
Patna, Jan 17:The death toll in Nalanda due to alleged alcohol poisoning has risen to 14. Another man died for the third consecutive day on Monday. As per the relatives of the deceased, the victim Deepak Paswan died after drinking alcohol. The police have arrested five people who were said to have been involved in the illegal liquor business through raids in the area. Meanwhile, the IG has suspended Sohsarai police station in-charge Suresh Prasad. The deceased Paswan, is a resident of Choti Pahari of Sohsarai police station area.
Deepak is said to have consumed spurious liquor on January 14. After his health deteriorated, the family brought him to Patna for treatment at a private clinic, where Paswan died on Monday morning. There may still be several people who are secretly receiving treatment in private clinics. It is also possible that the death toll may rise further.
DM Shashank Shubhankar, SP Ashok Mishra at a joint press conference in Chhoti Pahadi, have said that the postmortem and Bisra report has not been released yet. Prima facie, it appears that 11 people died in the liquor incident. During the postmortem, alcohol was found in the stomachs of the deceased. An explanation has been sought from the Excise Department by suspending the Sohsarai SHO on charge of negligence.
About a dozen people are said to have fallen ill in the liquor scandal. Shashi Kumar lost his eyesight. A day earlier also two youths had lost their sights after consumption of spurious liquor. All three are being treated at a private clinic. So far, a total of 12 people of Sohsarai police station area have died due to spurious liquor. At the same time, two people lost their lives in Prabhu Bigha village of Manpur police station area. At the same time, the condition of Rishi Kumar, a chhoti pahari resident of Sohsarai police station area, remains critical.
10 people that died on Saturday include Bhago Mistry (55), Manna Mistry (55), Sunil Kumar (24), Dharmendra alias Nageshwar (50), Arjun Pandit (51), Kalicharan (50), Rajesh Kumar (42) of Choti hill station area of Sohsarai police station area, Rampal Sharma and Ramroop Chauhan (45) and Shivji Chauhan (45) of Prabhu Vigha village of Manpur police station area. At the same time, three died on Sunday including Prahlad Kumar (40), Sintu Kumar (35) and Shankar Mistry (35), son of Baleshwar Mistry, all three were residents of chhoti pahari area.
Sunil Ram, resident of Choti Pahari; Munna Kumar, son of Keshar Sah; Munna Kumar, son of Ramchandra Saw; Rahul Kumar, son of Manoj Ram and Jitendra Paswan alias Bokdwa have been arrested in the matter.