SIWAN (Bihar): Days after the hooch tragedy in Bihar's Chhapra (Saran district) claimed over 30 lives, at least 5 people died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in the adjoining Siwan district in the state.
All five deceased are residents of Brahsthan and Sondhani villages of Bhagwanpur Police Station area.
Angry family members of the deceased obstructed the Siwan-Chapra Malmalia main road and undertook a protest.
The distance between Siwan and Chhapra is around 10 kilometres.
The deceased have been identified as Mahesh Rai (40), Sambhu Yadav (36), Amir Manjhi (45), and Awadh Manjhi (36) of Brahmasthan Village while Ramendra Pandit hailed from Sondhani village.
According to locals, the death toll is expected to go up and the condition of some people is stated to be serious.
Meanwhile, in the Begusarai district, the administration swung into action after one person reportedly died allegedly after consuming liquor. Two persons identified as Deepak Kumar and Shivam Kumar - who consumed alcohol with the deceased, are being interrogated by police. A third person Sandeep, who drank with them has been referred to Patna hospital in a critical condition.
The deaths have created an uproar both at the state and national levels as the sale and consumption of alcohol have been banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government since April 2016.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday during Assembly proceedings reiterated his "piyoge to maroge" remark which means those who will drink spurious liquor would die. Addressing the state assembly, the chief minister stated that no compensation will be given to people who died after drinking and repeated that "if you drink alcohol, you will die".
The Chhapra hooch tragedy was one of the issues raised in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, leading to the adjournment of the House thrice within a short span of 40 minutes as both the Treasury benches and the opposition raised their issues together with the commencement of the Zero Hour.