Sale and consumption of liquor had been prohibited in Bihar state in 2016 after ladies’s teams campaigned towards poor staff splurging their meager incomes on consuming.

Police officer Santosh Kumar mentioned a number of of the 20 hospitalized have misplaced their eyesight.

Three individuals have been detained for questioning for allegedly promoting spiked alcohol within the space, he mentioned. Saran district is sort of 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Patna, the Bihar state capital.

Dr. S. D. Sinha, medical superintendent of the principle government-run district hospital, confirmed 17 deaths attributable to intoxicants.

Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are widespread in India, the place illicit liquor is affordable and sometimes spiked with chemical compounds resembling pesticides to extend efficiency. Illicit liquor has additionally develop into a massively worthwhile trade throughout India, the place bootleggers pay no taxes and promote monumental portions of their product to the poor at an inexpensive charge.

At least 28 individuals died and 60 others grew to become sick from consuming tainted liquor within the western Indian state of Gujarat earlier this 12 months. Gujarat is one other Indian state the place the manufacturing, sale and consumption of liquor are prohibited.

In 2020, a minimum of 120 individuals died after consuming tainted liquor in India’s northern Punjab state.