Dozens of people are killed in Siwan, Saran and Gopalganj districts in another illicit liquor tragedy in Bihar which has been an open field for illegal liquor trade since this has been declared a prohibition state. Illicit liquor smugglers are protected by the ruling nexus is evident by the fact that not a single big smuggler has been caught by the police after many years of prohibition, while lakhs of poor are languishing in jails.
37 people have so far been reported killed by poisonous liquor in a spread of 60-65 villages in Bhagwanpur Hat block in Siwan. The Bihar government has not learnt any lesson from earlier such incidents in the state and the liquor mafia continues to flourish in nexus with the administrative machinery.
CPIML state secretary Kunal expressed grief and demanded from the state government to investigate the whole tragedy till the masterminds of this crime are punished. The illegal distribution network of liquor mafia cannot be hidden from the state authorities and Nitish government must also expose those cohorts in the administration working for the mafia, he said.
Satydev Ram, CPIML MLA visited Siwan Sadar Hospital just after this tragedy and met many people undergoing treatment and saw the dead bodies continue to come. The district administration’s attitude was to hush up the whole matter, he said. By the time he was there in hospital, there were 14 dead bodies.
He said that in view of the large area affected in this tragedy, it is apparent that the illegal liquor was sold through a widespread network which could have come to the notice of the police easily. How is it possible then, that the administration was ignorant, he asked.
The CPIML has demanded a high level inquiry into this tragedy and compensation to the families of the deceased people, as well as proper treatment of all injured/affected undergoing treatment.
