Some 20 people die in Bihar from bootleg liquor that kills the poor
Although a ban on alcoholic beverages is in place in the Indian state, government officials and police turn a blind eye on liquor produced by local mafias. For Fr Louis Prakash, the latter “get protection” through “corruption and collusion” that “cost the lives of the poor.”
Siwan (AsiaNews) – At least 20 people died recently in Siwan, Bihar, from drinking bootleg liquor. As a result, Chapra Police Superintendent Kumar Ashish announced the creation of a special investigation team, noting that three people were arrested in connection with the case, while First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against another five.
The case is also fuelling a political row in the state. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a Bihar-based party, has slammed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose party is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The RJD wants to know how this liquor could be available since a ban on alcohol sales is in force in the state. It blames the state government for the deaths, saying that liquor mafias enjoy the "protection" of the authorities.
“Every time during Holi and Diwali, it is seen how people die due to spurious liquor,” said RJD leader Mrityunjay Tiwari. “The liquor mafias have the protection of the government,” which “is not concerned about this.”
In April 2023, 26 people died in an alcohol-related case in Motihari, a city in Bihar’s East Champaran district, while in 2022, as many as 73 people died in Saran district from Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL).
For Fr Louis Prakash, head of the Patna Jesuit Migration Service, “These repeated tragedies related to liquor in Bihar compound the suffering of the poor and marginalised.”
In fact, “In Bihar despite prohibition, liquor is freely available; everyone is drinking this spurious hooch,” which “is brewed in oil drums, dirty pipes, jerry cans in non-existent sanitary conditions.”
The clergyman laments the fact that, “hooch makers get protection because they grease the palms of powerful goons and law enforcement to look away as they peddle the moonshine. Corruption and collusion cost lives of the poor.”
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29/10/2020 15:08
