Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan on Saturday claimed that over 200 people died in the Chapra hooch tragedy and accused the state government of hiding the actual number of deaths by “burning the bodies” without any post-mortem. “More than 200 people have died. Truth is being suppressed. The last rites were performed without a postmortem. They (the government) are threatening the victims’ families to jail them if they tell the truth,” Paswan said while talking to ANI.
Paswan further said that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar supports the corrupt officials with his “silence”. “CM is tight-lipped in this matter. His silence is support to corrupt officials,” Chirag added.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the tragedy rose to 65 on Friday. Most deaths reportedly occurred over Wednesday and Thursday, evoking an uproar inside and outside the Bihar Assembly.
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The Opposition, led by the BJP, took on the ruling JD(U)-RJD combined over the rising hooch deaths despite a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in the state, which has been in effect since April 2016. Amid severe criticism from the Opposition, led by the BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that no compensation will be given if a person dies after consuming spurious liquor.
“No compensation will be provided to people who die after consuming spurious liquor. We have been appealing to you not to drink. If you drink, you will die. Those who speak against prohibition will not bring any good to the people,” the Bihar CM said in the Assembly on Friday. Earlier, in the wake of the Hooch tragedy in Chhapra, the Station House Officer (SHO) Ritesh Mishra and Constable Vikesh Tiwari were suspended with immediate effect on the recommendation of Marhaura Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yogendra Kumar.
The Chapra hooch deaths were one of the issues which forced one of three adjournments in the Upper House of the Parliament on Thursday.
