Court convicts all 15 accused in Ara hooch tragedy of Bihar

Patna : A Bihar court on Tuesday convicted all the 15 accused in the 2012 Ara hooch tragedy in Bhojpur district of the state, which had claimed 21 lives, a government lawyer said.

Ordering judicial custody of all the 15 convicts, R.C. Diwedi, Additional District Judge in Ara civil court, slated the hearing on the quantum of punishment for July 26.

Four years before Bihar was declared a dry state following imposition of total prohibition, 21 people had died after consuming spurious liquor in Anaitha village of Ara. All the victims were Dalits.

The deaths had sparked widespread protests in Bhojpur, with hundreds of students blocking roads and the then opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leaders blaming the state government for the incident.