Hooch kills 13 in Bihar; cops arrest four, seize huge quantity of country-made liquor

Patna: Bihar Police on Wednesday detained at least four persons from Gopalganj area and seized huge quantity of country-made liquor from their possession.

Earlier today, family members of the victims had alleged that all the men complaint of uneasiness and breathlessness followed by stomach pain and vomiting, after they consumed alcohol on Tuesday evening. 

The families also alleged that the local administration failed to take action against the hooch mafia despite despite having information about them.

Their condition deteriorated after which they were rushed to a local hospital where they later died, the police said.

The development raised an alarm in Bihar as liquor has been outlawed here since March as part of election promise made by state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The deaths in Gopalganj has raised concern about availability and selling of alcohol through illegal means despite several claims made by the state government. 

In addition, the Gopalganj Superintendent of Police, Ravi Ranjan, refuted the reports that deaths in Gopalganj happened due to toxic liquor consumption and suggested that they may died of illeness.

"It is a matter of coincidence that they died one after another in a span of few hours," Ranjan said.