A Gopalganj court on Friday awarded death sentence to nine persons and life imprisonment to four women in connection with the Khajurbanni hooch tragedy in which 21 people had died after consuming spurious liquor in August 2016.

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh on each of the four woman convicts.

Additional District Judge-II Luvkush Kumar handed over the death sentence to nine liquor manufacturers and suppliers and life sentence to four women liquor manufacturers.

This is the first instance in which a court awarded death sentence in a hooch tragedy case after prohibition came into effect in Bihar.

The excise department’s special public prosecutor Ravi Bhushan Srivastva told reporters, “The court took a very strong view of 21 deaths caused because of the consumption of spurious liquor.”