Alok Mishra
Gopalganj: The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Gopalganj, Ramawadh Prasad rejected the bail petition of Grahan Pasi, main accused of Khajubanni liquor tragedy, after hearing the arguments of defence and prosecution counsels.
Arguing for his client, defence counsel Ved Prakash Tiwary said that Grahan’s family resides in Delhi and he owns a half-constructed house at the village. He argued that Grahan was not present at his native village when the incident took place. Tiwary pleaded that Grahan was not arrested by the district police and had surrendered on his own to show respect to the law of the land. He described his client as innocent and urged the court to grant bail to Grahan.
In his argument, Special Public Prosecutor Ravi Bhushan Srivastava said that illegal liquor trade was being managed by some people including Grahan Pasi. He argued that several people had lost their lives while many were taken ill after they consumed liquor at Khajurbanni in Gopalganj district.
The court after hearing the arguments of both the lawyers rejected the bail petition of Grahan. The defence lawyer said that he would appeal in the court of the District and Sessions Judge. It may be mentioned here that the bail petitions of seven accused had been earlier rejected by the court.
Over 20 persons were killed while several others were taken ill after they consumed liquor at Khajurbanni between August 16 and 17. The incident had rocked the state as the Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of liquor in Bihar from April 1, 2016.