Boy falls into hidden liquor barrel, dies

A four-year-old boy died after he fell into a hidden liquor barrel during idol immersion after Saraswati Puja, in Bihar's East Champaran on Wednesday.

The accident was reported at Mansingha village, where locals had gathered at the banks of the river Gandak for the immersion of Goddess Saraswati's idol. A barrel brimming with illegally brewed country-made liquor had been buried in a pit and carefully concealed with straw, on the riverbank. Unaware of the danger, the child, Morelal, stumbled into the barrel and drowned instantly.

East Champaran SP Swarn Prabhat on Thursday asked local police to register a murder case against those behind illicit liquor trade in the village. The boy's father, Horil Sahani, said in his FIR that his son drowned in the river and he himself retrieved the body. However, ASP Shikhar Chaudhary said preliminary findings suggested the child drowned in liquor. "The exact cause of death will be confirmed after the postmortem report," the SP said.


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