The death of 18 persons in a Gopalganj locality last month was caused by consumption of toxic liquor, findings of the viscera report of the dead have revealed.

The viscera report of 11 persons who died after drinking hooch reached the chief judicial magistrate's court on September 1. A copy has been provided to the case's investigating officer, Nigam Kumar Verma. The report revealed contents of methyl and ethyl alcohol in the samples sent to the state forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Patna.

Ethyl is the chief intoxicating ingredient of all alcoholic beverages, the FSL report said, while methyl is highly poisonous. Though the police were tight-lipped, sources associated with the case said the investigating officer had received the copy of the FSL findings from the court. "The viscera report has established that the deaths took place because of spurious liquor," a lawyer of the local court said.

Excise superintendent Priyaranjan, however, said he has not received a copy of the report. "I have contacted the investigating officer to get a copy," he said.

The findings of the report have kindled hope for compensation among the kin of the deceased. "The chief minister had announced that the government will provide compensation after it was established that the victims had died after consuming spurious liquor," said Jitan Devi, widow of Parma Mahto.

Mahto, a resident of Nonia Toli died after consuming liquor from Khajurbanni, 215km northwest of Patna, on Independence Day but his post-mortem could not be conducted as the district administration officials allegedly asked his son, Munmun, to escape from the hospital with the body.

"The officials had threatened to book me on charges of violating the prohibition law. Apprehending trouble, I took the body of my father, a daily wager, and performed his last rites," a shell-shocked Munmun, a wooden cart driver, said on Wednesday.

"We have deployed excise officials to keep a vigil on the houses, which had been sealed by department officials on orders of the district magistrate," said constable Ram Naresh Pandey.

Khajurbanni wore a deserted look on Wednesday when The Telegraph visited the locality. "All the residents have fled after the incident," Pandey added.

Gopalganj chief judicial magistrate Ram Awadh Prasad visited Khajurbanni to take stock of the situation but did not speak to the media.