Dakshin Telhua, West Champaran 

Even as people across Bihar prepared to celebrate Chhath puja, the home of Mukesh Paswan, a 26-year-old daily wage labourer echoed with the wails of grief as on November 4, he died after consuming spurious liquor. Mukesh was the breadwinner of the family that lives in Dakshin Telhua village, in Bettiah taluk in West Champaran district.   

 “My husband returned from Meghalaya where he worked as a daily wage labourer, to celebrate Deepavali and Chhath puja. On the night of November 3, he and his friends went out and bought illegal liquor and drank it. The following morning, he did not wake up. When we took him to the hospital, the doctor declared him dead,” Kususm Devi, the 25-year-old wife of Mukesh Paswan, told Gaon Connection.  Paswan leaves behind a four year old son Deva and a six-year old son, Aditya, besides his parents and a sister. 

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Paswan was not the only one who died after consuming liquor. According to data from Nautan thana in Bettiah, the district headquarters of West Champaran,  more than 16 people died in Telhua village alone because of this. However, local inhabitants claim the number is much higher and closer to 35. 

In another incident on November 3, daily wager Madan Ram, also from west Telhua, came home after he had consumed liquor and began vomiting violently. The 40-year-old was rushed to a private hospital where the doctors advised his family to take him to the Government Medical College Hospital in Bettiah. “He was unconscious when he reached the Government hospital, and the following day (November 4) he was declared dead,” Hanumat Rai, a neighbour  of the deceased from the same village, told Gaon Connection.  

The spike in deaths in Dakshin Telhua led to the suspension of two officials, Manish Sharma, the police-in-charge of the Nautan thana, along with a chowkidar on November 5. They were suspended as they failed to prevent the sale of illegal liquor, leading to the deaths. The sale and consumption of alcohol has been banned in Bihar since 2016.

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324 FIRs lodged against police personnel

The death toll in the Bihar hooch tragedy climbed to 39, with 11 deaths reported from Gopalganj, and six each from Muzaffarpur and Vaishali districts.

Meanwhile, on November 16, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called for a high-level review of the prohibition policy on November 16. Senior ministers, police officers and officials from the administration were present at the meeting at the chief minister’s secretariat in Patna, along with the two deputy chief ministers, Renu Devi and Tarkishor Prasad. 

At the end of a seven-hour long meeting with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, SK Singhal, Director General Police, Bihar, and Chaitanya Prasad, principal secretary, Home department, Bihar, said stringent action would be taken against those complicit in the liquor deaths.

In an address to the media, they said, 324 FIRs were lodged against police personnel including four inspectors, 46 sub inspectors, 46 assistant sub inspectors, 168 hawaldars/sipahis and 60 chowkidars. They also said that 238 police officers were suspended and 68 Station House Officers were debarred. 

Too little too late

But for many, the action comes too late. “Anyone can purchase liquor from Munna Ram and Ram Prakash who own the illegal business,” Jagrani Devi, Mukesh Paswan’s mother told Gaon Connection. “You can buy liquor from them for as little as twenty rupees,” she added. The liquor ban of 2016 has had no impact here, she alleged. 

“If he had not got hold of the liquor, he would have been alive,” Ramani Devi lamented. The 32-year-old from West Telhua, mourned the death of her 45-year-old husband Thaag Paswan, who also died on November 4. She doesn’t know how she is going to support her family of two daughters and a son, now that her husband who was the only earning member is no more. “Anyone can buy liquor here. There is no ban and no hindrance to it,”Ramani Devi added.

One of the alleged liquor sellers, Ram Prakash also died of consuming the liquor on November 4, while the other, Munna Ram, is on the run.

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Three others from West Telhua who died in the village of spurious liquor consumption were 62-year-old Hanumat Singh, 55-year-old Umashankar Shah, and 40-year-old Ramesh Sahni. They were cremated at the bank of the Chandravat river, which flows a kilometre away from their village. 

“This is nothing new here,” Rajendra Jha from West Telhua told Gaon Connection. “Recently, in September, twelve people lost their lives and four lost their eyesight at Lauriya, a village not too far from here,” he said.

According to him liquor dealers find new ways of ferrying in the banned liquor. “The liquor comes in ambulances, oil tankers, and milk trucks,” he said.

Gaon Connection tried to get in touch with Kundan Kumara, District Magistrate Bettiah, and Upendra Nath, superintendent of police for more information on the hooch tragedy, but they were unavailable for comment.