Chief minister Raghubar Das on Monday summoned the home secretary, the DGP and the excise secretary and ordered a statewide crackdown on hooch as the toll in Hatma climbed to seven and police arrested a couple who sourced the spurious brew that also killed their son.
Das has also directed excise commissioner Bhor Singh Yadav to probe the Hatma tragedy in person.
Governor Droupadi Murmu, on the other hand, called for prohibition of liquor in Jharkhand. On the sidelines of an RMC programme near Raj Bhavan, she said: “People should not consume liquor because it is not just bad for health, but also leads to financial instability. I request the government to ban liquor in Jharkhand.”
The seventh victim of hooch in 48 hours is septuagenarian Phoolmani Devi. The resident of Hatma had been admitted to state-run RIMS on Sunday following acute nausea, stomach ache and dizziness, and hospital sources had confirmed liquor consumption. She died on Monday morning.
Police who launched raids since the unexplained deaths began in quick succession from Saturday night have arrested one Chhotan Mirdha and his wife Ghuni.
The husband-wife duo is accused of supplying spurious liquor to Phoolmani as well as to Pintu Thakur (30), his father Paras Thakur (60) and neighbours Prayag Nagarchi (40), Billu Mirdha (50) and Ashok Ram (60) — all dead now like their son Vijay Mirdha (55).
City SP Aman Kumar said incriminating evidence had been found against Chhotan and his wife. “They procured the consignment from one Hariom Sao who runs an unauthorised distillery at Hochar in Kanke. We are looking for Sao,” Kumar added.
SSP Anish Gupta said Phoolmani’s body would be sent for an autopsy. “Husband Bhadwa Mirdha has said he has no knowledge of whether the deceased had consumed alcohol. But, doctors at RIMS suspect her condition deteriorated following consumption of alcohol,” Gupta said.
Ranchi police maintain that Paras and Prayag may not have been victims of hooch, as both died in private hospitals where the cause of death has been mentioned as cardiac arrest. Also, their line of treatment did not mention suspected food poisoning or spurious liquor, they said.
Hence, post-mortem was only conducted on the other four on Sunday night and their bodies handed over to family members for last rites, which were performed on Monday amid police security.
A joint team of CID and police have been conducting massive raids across the city, including in Hatma, Hathia Gonda, Hochar and Sukhdeonagar, since Sunday.
Around 150 litres of hooch have been seized from Hochar and another 80 litres from Hathia Gonda, besides huge quantities of mahua flowers that are used to manufacture liquor. From Hatma, over 50 litres of hadiya — a brew made of fermented rice — have been confiscated from several homes.
The hooch tragedy in the urban slum near the official residence of the chief justice had unfolded on Sunday after police acted on information that Hatma residents were secretly performing last rites of two men who died under mysterious circumstances.
