5 dead after consuming spurious liquor in Bihar's Chhapra, say police

At least three people in Chhapra area of Bihar's Saran district have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor amid reports that the toll is expected to climb, said police on Wednesday.

Though the police in Ishauvpur have not confirmed the cause of "suspicious" deaths yet, they apprehended that the toll may rise which various sources put at five, six and 10.

"Three died, bodies sent for postmortem, these look like suspicious deaths. I have also received information that some more are receiving treatment at different places," SP S Kumar said.

Madhepur DSP reached the spot and started the investigation. The police are searching for more sick people who might be in hiding to avoid interrogation as the sale and consumption of alcohol is completely banned in Bihar since April 2016.

Among the deceased are Amit Ranjan, who died during treatment at Chhapra Sadar Hospital. The district police force have reached the hospital and taken Ranjan's body into custody. The police said that the cause of the death would be ascertained only after the post-mortem. Four other people, who reportedly died in the village after consuming spurious liquor have been identified and include Sanjay Singh of Doila village, Kunal Kumar of Mashrak area, and Ganesh Ram all from Ishauvpur police station area. The relatives of the deceased have claimed that the cause of death is spurious liquor but police have yet to confirm.

In mid-August in a similar case in the same district in Bhualpur village, five people had died after consuming spurious liquor.