The Bihar Police has arrested more than 800 suspects so far after at least 36 people died from drinking spurious liquor. The police action came just before chief minister Nitish Kumar’s prohibition review meeting on November 16. The police also seized 20,000 litres of liquor in raids across the state.

The Nitish Kumar government has come under the scanner for the hooch tragedy that claimed at least 36 lives in the districts of West Champaran, Gopalganj, Samastipur, and Muzaffarpur.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier said that he would hold a comprehensive review of the prohibition on November 16 and strict action would be taken. Soon after his announcement, the Bihar Police swung into action and started conducting raids.

Bihar BJP President Sanjay Jaiswal, an MP from West Champaran, along with the opposition, alleged that the illegal liquor business in Bihar was thriving in connivance with police-administration and the liquor mafia.

The details of the action taken by the Bihar Police so far in the affected districts after the deaths due to spurious liquor were released on Thursday, November 11.

Cops raided 1,313 locations and registered 487 cases in the four affected districts, according to the data released by the Bihar Police.

The maximum number of raids were conducted in Gopalganj (496) and West Champaran (493).

As many as 823 people were arrested as part of the drive against the liquor mafia in the four districts. The maximum number of arrests were made in Muzaffarpur (324) and Gopalganj (275).

So far, 16,230 litres of foreign liquor and 4,510 litres of country liquor have been seized. The police also demolished 32 illegal liquor distilleries.