17 people died in Bihar's Gopalganj after drinking toxic home-made liquor bought from bootleggers.
Highlights
- 17 men dead after allegedly drinking adulterated alcohol
- 25 policemen suspended for failing to check sale of booze
- Bihar a dry state with tough laws to enforce prohibition
25 policemen in Bihar including senior officers have been suspended for failing to stop the manufacturing and sale of toxic home-made liquor in the town of Gopalganj, where 17 people have died after drinking the moonshine they bought from bootleggers on Monday.
The action against the police conforms with new tough laws to ban liquor introduced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, in his election campaign last year, promised prohibition, and has implemented it across the state six months ahead of schedule. The plan was to start with partial prohibition and to then go ahead and ban all liquor in six months.
Mr Kumar's liquor ban has been attacked by critics for being too stringent; many also warn that prohibition will spur illicit brews that are usually adulterated with dangerous elements. Nearly 200 police officers have refused promotions recently, alleging that the new rules are too aggressive in penalizing cops in areas where liquor is illegally traded.
"I know that incidents like this will happen, but it doesn't mean that we will lift the ban. I know the liquor lobby is active, it's time to overcome obstacles," Chief Minister said yesterday in Patna.
160 km away in Gopalganj, the police raided a neighbourhood and uncovered 300 litres of illicit liquor, wood-fired stoves which are a give-away of the bootlegging. 20 pits were dug up: they were all packed with bottles of alcohol. Six people have been arrested so far for Monday's tragedy.
"Is this enough?" asked Vijay Kant, the father of 27-year-old Shashi Kant, a daily wager who died on Thursday in hospital. "We did not know he had gone drinking. He came home on Monday evening and then suddenly he became very ill. The police raided this place only on Wednesday. Where were they for the three months that the prohibition law has been in force?" he asked.
A post-mortem report has not found any alcohol in the blood of those who died, but the Chief Minister has stressed that more tests will be conducted.