Gopalganj courts asks for case diaries of accused of hooch tragedy

Alok Mishra

Gopalganj: The court of the District and Sessions Judge, Gopalganj, on Tuesday asked for antecedents and case diaries of the six accused of the infamous Khajurbanni liquor tragedy. The hearing on the bail petitions of the accused stated on Tuesday. The court also ordered for submission of police case diaries before September 24, 2016,  as it would hear the arguments on bail petitions of the accused on that day.

It may be mentioned here that lawyer Ved Prakash Tiwary had filed bail applications for the accuseds-Chatu Pasi, Rajesh Pasi, Sanoj Pasi, Sanjay Pasi, Munna Pasi and Ranjay Pasi- in the court of the District and Sessions Judge on September 9. Pubic Prosecutor Devbans Giri and Special Public Prosecutor, Excise Department, Ravi Bhushan Srivastava pleaded in the said court that several persons had died after purchasing and consuming liquor from the accused. Taking serious note of the argument, the court directed for submission of case diaries and antecedents of the accused.

It may be recalled that 21 persons had died after consuming liquor at Khajurbanni on August 15, 2016. The incident had rocked the state as Nitish Kumar government had enforced complete prohibition on April 5, 2016.

Meanwhile, the Gopalganj police have failed to arrest Rupesh Shukla alias Pandit of Jalalpur village under Jamo police station in Siwan, Indu Devi, Grahan Pasi and Reeta Devi, the masterminds of Khajurbanni incident. Five separate police teams have failed to locate them despite repeated raids.