Bihar excise Minister on spurious liquor deaths: 'Govt will take strict action against accused'

Patna (Bihar) [India], December 14 : Bihar excise Minister Sunil Kumar on Wednesday "confirmed" six people have died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in the Chhapra area of Bihar's Saran district. Bihar minister "vowed' that govt would take "strict action" against culprits responsible for deaths.
"Process of filling an FIR is underway. I have spoken over the phone with SP. He confirmed the death of six people so far," Sunil Kumar said after being asked about police taking any action in this case.
"We do not shy away from arresting or taking action in such cases, whenever there is any evidence," he asserted.
Kumar said that the JD-U government will continue to "crackdown on culprits responsible for deaths".
"When we were in coalition with the BJP, neither did we protect culprits nor arrested innocent people. Chief Minister has made it clear, whoever may be the culprit, strict action will be taken against them and will continue to take such actions," Kumar added.
Sunil Kumar said whenever a crime takes place like theft or murder, police take action.
"Rules were also made during British days, but still people break them," he added.
Nitish's minister said people have also died in other states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where there are no restrictions on the sale of liquor.
"People have died in Bihar even before the Liquor ban. People responsible will be punished. Strict action will be taken without any discrimination. We have always taken action against the accused," he said.
Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday lost his cool in the state assembly when leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked his government over several deaths due to spurious liquor in Saran district's Chhapra area.
The Janata Dal-United chief slammed the BJP for protesting the deaths as Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha questioned the state's liquor ban policy since 2016.
Nitish Kumar lost his temper in the House and screamed at the BJP MLAs ''Sharabi ho gaye ho tum...(you are drunk)"
Protesting the incident, Bihar opposition lawmakers also staged a demonstration outside the state assembly later.
The police in Ishauvpur area have called the deaths "suspicious" as they continue with probe and post-mortems.
"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," said the SP.
The sale and consumption of alcohol were banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April 2016.