In dry Bihar, 24 dead in two districts after consuming suspected spurious liquor

At least 24 people have died and several others fell ill after consuming suspected spurious liquor in Gopalganj and West Champaran districts of Bihar since Wednesday.

Eight persons died on Thursday after allegedly consuming hooch in Telhua village at Bettiah, the headquarters of West Champaran district. The count in another incident of consumption of suspected spurious liquor in Gopalganj climbed to 16 on Thursday with six more deaths being confirmed by the district authorities.

The administrations of both districts have not confirmed the cause of the deaths so far.

The Telhua hooch tragedy is the third incident such incident in north Bihar in the last ten days. Four persons have been arrested in connection with the incident. Over 20 persons, mostly belonging to scheduled castes, had allegedly consumed spurious liquor being sold by local traders in the area and have been identified by the police.

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Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the state government has failed to stop the sale and supply of spurious liquor in the dry state.