20 dead after consuming illicit liquor in east India

NEW DELHI, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — At least 20 people have died, and several others have been hospitalized over the past three days after allegedly consuming illicit liquor in India’s eastern state of Bihar, confirmed a top police official over phone.
While 15 deaths were reported from the state’s Siwan district, five persons died in Saran district.
Confirming the number of deaths due to consumption of illicit liquor, Bihar’s Director General of Police Alok Raj told media that a total of 12 people had been arrested till now over the charge of supplying illicit liquor.
Meanwhile, some online media reports claimed that the death toll had reached up to 36.
Bihar witnesses a ban on sale and consumption of liquor since April 2016 when it was declared a “dry state.” However, liquor continues to be sold across the state through illegal means. Similar deaths had been reported from the state in the past.
In April 2023, 26 people had died due to consumption of spurious liquor in Bihar’s Motihari district. In December 2022, 71 had lost their lives in the Chhapra district. In March 2022, 12 people had died in Banka district, while in November 2021 as many as 43 people had died after consuming poisonous liquor in Gopalganj, Bettiah and Muzaffarpur districts. ■