At least 17 people were killed in the eastern Indian state of Bihar after consuming suspected spurious liquor, a local television news channel News18 said Sunday.
According to the channel, the deaths took place in four districts -- Madhepura, Bhagalpur, Banka and Murliganj.
"As per available information, three people have died in Madhepura, nine in Banka and four in Bhagalpur, while Bihar's Murliganj has reported one death due to consumption of spurious liquor," the channel in a news report said. "This is the latest in the series of spurious liquor deaths in Bihar and comes less than a week after 16 people died in two districts -- Bhagalpur (six) and Gopalganj (10) -- of the state."
Bihar is a dry state and there is a complete ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol since 2016, reports Xinhua.
Officials said only the post-mortem reports could confirm the actual reason behind the deaths.
Spurious alcohol deaths are often reported in India, where people often drink cheap country-made bootleg liquor.
