In a bewildering turn of events in Begusarai, an 11-year-old student named Mohd Shohaib found himself in an unexpected situation after returning home from school, under the influence of alcohol. The young boy unknowingly drank liquor that he believed was a soft drink, having discovered it hidden on school grounds.
Begusarai: What began as an ordinary Monday afternoon turned into a frightening ordeal for the family of an 11-year-old boy, Mohd Shohaib, when he staggered home from school in a drunken state after unknowingly consuming liquor from a stash hidden inside the campus.The incident occurred at a govt primary school in Shishwa under Bachhwara police station area in Begusarai, where the boy, a Class IV student, had been playing with friends during school hours.His mother Rizwana Khatoon was stunned to see him struggling to walk and appearing disoriented when he returned home. Alarmed by his condition, family members immediately began asking his friends what had happened.The boy’s uncle, Mohd Khurshid, said what the family learned was deeply disturbing.“As per his friends while playing in the school campus on that day they together went to an abandoned toilet on the back side of the school premises. Since the area is deserted, thick bushes have grown around it. Sohaib found several packed cartons of bottles dumped there. He took one of the bottles out and gulped down the liquid in it thinking it as soft drink. However, his condition started deteriorating on way back to home,” Khurshid said.
The boy was taken to the local primary health centre in the evening, where doctors kept him under observation.“It is really disgusting to know that the smugglers even did not spare the school premises for their misdeeds. The incident also raises questions mark over the functioning of the local police,” a villager said.Police later recovered 12 cartons of foreign-made liquor from the spot.Khurshid said the child recovered after treatment and was discharged from the health centre later on Monday night.School principal Mohd Mursalin said he came to know about criminals using the deserted part of the campus for dumping liquor only after the school period ended on Monday.“We will ensure that the deserted part of the premises is not used by anti-social elements in future,” Mursalin said.Bachhwara police station SHO Prerendra Kumar said the gang involved in the incident has been identified. “A named FIR has been lodged against three persons in this connection. Raids are being carried out to arrest them,” Kumar said.Locals said smugglers appeared to have taken advantage of the easy access from a nearby road to the abandoned section of the school campus where the cartons were found hidden.
