Death toll in Gopalganj hooch tragedy increases to 19

Alok Mishra

Gopalganj: The death toll in Gopalganj hooch tragedy increased to 19 on Thursday. However, Gopalganj DM claimed that altogether 16 persons had died in the incident till date.
Official sources said that four persons have been admitted to PMCH, Patna, for treatment where their condition is stated to be critical. Two persons referred to PMCH from Gopalganj Sadar Hospital and identified as Nasir Mian and Munna Sah died at PMCH.

The victims’ family members, who had earlier disclosed that they had died after consuming liquor are now refusing to say anything regarding liquor fearing that they might land in trouble. The villagers said that most of the people had died after vomitting and blood also came out of their mouths. Some of the locals of the affected villages said that this is for the first time that liquor has taken such a huge toll.
Gopalganj DM Rahul Kumar had constituted seven separate teams after the incident. All the teams have submitted their reports to the DM. Gopalganj SP Ravi Ranjan said that six persons had been arrested in the wake of the tragedy. He said that during raids, police seized 45 gallons of mahua and 25 empty bottles of a Homoeopathic medicine. Regarding post-mortem reports of the victims, the SP said that that there was no positive sign of alcohol. He, however, added that viscera test would be carried out to confirm whether the victims had consumed liquor or not.
Police said that the arrested persons had been identified as Ranjay Choudhary, Munna Choudhary, Sanjay Choudhary, Chhatu Choudhary, Rajesh Choudhary and Sanoj Choudhary. Raids were on to arrest the others involved in this nefarious trade, police said.