Lagatar24 Desk
Muzzafarpur, Sep 24: Authorities in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district said that two individuals died and three others suffered vision loss on Sunday after reportedly consuming fake alcohol, a near replica of the horrifying events of April this year.
Umesh Shah and Dharmendra Ram were named as the deceased by the police.
The scene was visited by a team to conduct a more thorough investigation when word of the suspected fake alcohol deaths spread, the police stated.
The police added that two people had been arrested in relation to the alleged spurious alcohol deaths.
Muzaffarpur SP Abhishek Dixit said, “We received information that two people died after health took a turn for the worse all of a sudden. Preliminary inquiry has revealed that they had consumed countrymade liquor. We have arrested two persons in connection with these deaths.”
27 people died in Motihari, Bihar, in April of this year as a result of spurious alcohol consumption.
A Motihari SP Kantesh Kumar Mishra, in response to the alleged hooch deaths, suspended nine police watchmen (chowkidars), two Anti-Liquor Task Force (ALTF) employees and five station house officers (SHOs).
Speaking about the fatalities, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar offered an ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakh to each of the deceased’s family members in exchange for a written promise to follow the state’s prohibition policy.
“The deaths are unfortunate. We’ll provide Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased from the CM Relief Fund. However, they should also give us an undertaking in writing that they are in favour of the liquor ban currently in force in the state and that they are against liquor addiction,” the Bihar CM said.
The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act of 2016 was used by Nitish Kumar’s administration to impose alcohol prohibition throughout the state.
