Janakpurdham, May 3 Mahottari District Health Office confirmed that toxic liquor has claimed the lives of 12 people in Bhangaha Municipality in the past 12 days. A team of doctors and health experts confirmed that toxic alcohol was responsible for the death of 12 people in Gorhanna of Bhangaha Municipality and Bardibas Municipality. District Health Office Chief Nagendra Chuadhary said a team led by Dr Amrit Kumar Pokhrel of Epidemiology and Infectious Disease Department and a doctor from World Health Organisation had made a field visit yesterday and today confirmed that 12 people had died after consuming poisonous liquor. Twelve people, including a woman lost their lives. Statements collected from locals revealed that they died due to consumption of toxic liquor, said Chaudhary. It is learnt that people drink home-brewed liquor in the remote areas. One person died today as well after he consumed alcohol, said Chaudhary. People of Tharu and Musahar community populate both wards of Bardibas and Bhangaha municipalities. Mahottari District Police Office SP Shyamkrishna Adhikari said his office had started a campaign against illegal brewing and sale of alcohol. “A large number of police personnel have been deployed to discourage the production and sale of alcohol,” said SP Adhikari. Twenty one people had lost their lives owing to intake of toxic alcohol in Kshireswor Municipality, Dhanusha, in a week about two months ago. One person was nabbed on the charge of procuring liquor from Bhangaha of Mahottari and selling it at Kshireswor Municipality then. A version of this article appears in e-paper on May 4, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.