Doctors in East Champaran use paper cones to ‘test’ for alcohol consumption

Patna, Nov 1 (IANS) In “dry” Bihar, people are put behind bars for consuming liquor but a video going viral on social media shows the tests to ascertain the condition of the accused drinkers may not be very reliable.

One such incident appeared in East Champaran district when the doctors of a sub-divisional hospital used paper cones to ascertain whether the accused had drunk alcohol or not, and on the basis of such a “medical report”, the district police sent 9 persons to jail under liquor prohibition act.

The incident occurred on October 30 and a video of this regard went viral on social media on Wednesday.

Raxaul police arrested 11 persons on the charge of consuming liquor on October 30. The police team took them to the sub-divisional hospital for the medical examination. As the doctors did not have a breath-analyser device or blood testing equipment in the hospital, they asked the alleged offenders to blow in a cone and smelled the cone to ascertain whether they were drunk or not.

On the basis of this method, the doctors have prepared reports of 9 alleged offenders and mentioned that they were drunk. Based on the medical reports of doctors, the Raxaul police produced the offenders in sub-divisional court which sent them to judicial custody.

As per the rules, the law enforcement authorities have to present scientific proof in the court like the reports of blood tests of offenders. The medical report should contain the percentage of alcohol found in the blood. In this case, neither breath-analyser reports nor the reports of blood test were presented before the court.

The hospital’s Deputy Superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan told media persons: “We do not have breath analyser or any other infrastructure to conduct alcohol tests. Hence, our doctors have opted for paper cones to test the offenders.”

Raxaul police station SHO Neeraj Kumar said: “The department has given a breath-analyser device but it is not functioning.”

When contacted, district Civil Surgeon Dr Anjani Kumar Singh said: “We have seen the video where doctors have tested alleged drunk people using cones made of paper. We have constituted an investigation committee for the purpose. Action will be taken after the reports.”

Raxaul is located on Bihar-Nepal border and hence a large number of people living there used to go to Nepal across the porous borders to consume liquor.

–IANS

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