Samastipur, Aug 16 (PTI) Two persons have died and one fell seriously ill after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in Samastipur district of dry Bihar, officials said on Tuesday.

The deceased have been identified as Vikram Kumar (21) and Rahul Kumar (22) of Bakhtiyarpur village. Another person Munna Kumar (19) has been admitted to a government hospital in Samastipur and his condition is reported to be critical, they said.

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Talking to reporters, Samastipur, Superintendent of Police, Hriday Kant said, "Bodies of Vikram and Rahul have been sent for the post-mortem examination. The exact cause of death can only be ascertained after the post-mortem examination report".

The local police is investigating the matter, the SP said, adding searches are also being conducted to nab the suspected bootleggers.

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“Villagers claim that all three consumed liquor on Monday. Immediately after consuming liquor, Vikram's condition started deteriorating. He was immediately taken to the nearest hospital where he was declared brought dead on Monday. Condition of Rahul also deteriorated and he was rushed to the hospital where he died on Tuesday”, said a local police officer on condition of anonymity.

Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016, in line with an electoral promise he had made to the state's women ahead of assembly polls held the year before. Since November last year, the state has reported a number of hooch tragedies in which more than 65 people have died.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)