Rising hooch deaths in Bihar a result of chinks in dry laws

Patna, July 31 (IANS) In a state where liquor trade in any form is completely banned, two youths from Bihars Patna city died due to consumption of illicit liquor on July 21.

The youths were identified as Akhilesh Kumar (28) and Vivek Kumar (26) while their friend Abhishek Kumar lost his eyesight. They were residents of Biscoman colony in the Alamganj police station area and had purchased the liquor from Vishal Kumar and Shashi Bhushan Yadav of Kumhrar locality of Patna.

On July 28, an ASI of Ekma police station in Saran district was nabbed in a drunken stage. The ASI was identified as Niranjan Manadal. He was roaming in the police station and adjoining areas allegedly in a drunken state.

Three persons including the husband of a block pramukh went to Mufassil police station in Gaya district to meet one of their supporters who was in custody for creating a ruckus at a government event on July 28.

The accused, Mohammad Jafar, husband of Manpur block pramukh Khadia Islam, panchayat samiti member Mandal Kumar and his brother Chandan Kumar were allegedly in a drunken state when they reached the police station. The SHO arrested them after conducting the breath analyser test.

On May 24, a hooch tragedy claimed 13 lives in Bihar’s Aurangabad district while many others lost their eyesight.

The deceased were identified as Vinod Pal (55) ex sarpanch of Khiriyawa, Sonwa Kunwr (60), Kameshwar Kumar (35), Shiv Saw, Shambhu Thakur, Anil Sharma, Vinay Kumar Gupta, (30), Manoj Yadav (65), Ravindra Singh and 4 others.

The condition of Dhananjay Chaudhary, Mohammad Nezam and Subodh Singh is critical and they are admitted in a hospital in Sherghati in Gaya district.

On May 23, three persons died and eight were hospitalized in Bihar’s Gaya after they consumed poisonous liquor during a wedding function. The deceased were identified as Amar Paswan (26), Rahul Kumar (27) and Arjun Paswan (43). The victims went to Pathra village under Aamas police station in the district to attend a wedding where they consumed country made liquor.

According to an official of the prohibition department, the deaths take place due to poisonous liquor.

“People of the state are economically poor and some of them are involved in this illegal business to earn some money. They choose wrong methods to make liquor and sell it in the market. The poor consumer buys such liquor as it is available at a low price and becomes a victim of spurious liquor,” an officer of the Anti Liquor Task Force said.

“The manufacturing of country made liquor using mahua, rice etc is frequent in rural as well as urban areas. They used ammonium chloride (Nausadar) excessively in a bid to make the liquor more strong. Once the ratio of Nausadar was higher in the concentrate of mahua or rice, it became poisonous and took the lives of the villagers, said Dr Vinod Kumar, a Patna based doctor.

“We have a large number of country made liquor manufacturing units in the Raghopur area of Vaishali district. The local police know it well but they act only after deadly incidents. The trade and consumption is taking place everywhere in the area and the police also know about it but they take action selectively after such incidents,” said a villager Radhe Shyam Yadav of Raghopur block.

The hooch tragedies in Bihar have occurred in almost every district including Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Bettiah, Samastipur, Vaishali, Nawada, Gaya, Aurangabad, Patna, Madhepura and Nalanda. This issue is severely affecting the Nitish Kumar government especially after its alliance partners BJP and HAM became extremely vocal about it.

These are some examples that reflect how prohibition has failed in the state and the reasons for its faulty implementation on the ground.

It seems that law enforcement agencies including the Anti Liquor Task Force, Bihar police and excise department have failed to implement the prohibition policy properly on the ground. Moreover, its officials are facing charges of selling liquor.

On July 20, 19 home guard personnel including 4 women alleged that the superintendent of the excise department in Muzaffarpur, was forcing them to sell liquor. They also filed a complaint with the district magistrate.

“The officials of the excise department used to sell liquor in the market and they also forced us to do the same. It is an open secret and we are not afraid of action being taken against us. We are ready to face the action but not do the duty at the cost of self respect,” said one of the women home guards.

Liquor prohibition is an ambitious programme of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that came into effect in Bihar in April 2016. A statement of prohibition department commissioner B Kartikey Dhanji reflects how liquor trade and consumption are taking place in a dry state.

“The liquor prohibition department arrested 24 persons per day for violating liquor norms in the entire year of 2021. The number reached four fold in May 2022 when 96 persons were arrested per day. In June 2022, the department arrested 162 offenders per day and 199 offenders were arrested per day from 1 July to July 22, this year in Bihar.

“In Patna, we have divided the district into five zones such as Danapur, Paliganj, Barh, Patna Sadar and Masaudhi. In December 2021, we arrested 3 persons per day and it reached 6 in April, 11 in May, 27 in June, 33 till July 22. So we have been enforcing the liquor prohibition act on the ground in a strong manner and we will continue our efforts in the future as well,” Dhanji said.

–IANS

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