Nagaland BJP president Benjamin Yepthomi on Monday questioned how alcohol reaches districts where it is banned, days after adulterated liquor reportedly killed 19 people in Tuensang and Mokokchung.

Around 11 people are reported to have died in Tuensang and eight in Mokokchung after allegedly consuming spurious alcohol. The Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act remains in force in the state.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference at his residence in Dimapur, Yepthomi was asked how concerned the state BJP is about the deaths, and whether a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should be constituted at the district or state level.

He dismissed the SIT approach. "What will happen with the SIT? It is all manipulated," he said, adding that an SIT is announced whether people die or corruption is alleged. 

"Nagas don't have a roadmap," he said. Calling such teams "meaningless," Yepthomi said they were "just to wash hands." He added: “If they want to work for real, they should. If alcohol is to be banned, ban it. If it is to be opened, open it.”

The BJP leader also raised the issue of licensed bonded warehouses. He said the state government currently has two such warehouses licensed, which he found difficult to reconcile with the state's dry status. 

"If this is a dry state, then how is alcohol coming?" he questioned.

Pointing to districts such as Zunheboto and Tuensang, where alcohol is banned, he asked how liquor reaches them. He suggested it may come from the bonded warehouses, with vehicles carrying it for sale. 

"I don't know, but I'm just saying," he said, adding: “Or is alcohol being dropped from choppers in Tuensang?”

Yepthomi said the question of whether alcohol should be legalised or banned should be discussed with the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC). He stressed he was not opposed to the church body. 

"I fully respect them, in support of them, in all the good things they do," he said, but questioned how the government could issue bonded warehouse licences while the state is described as dry.

The remarks come amid public concern over the deaths. Yepthomi did not offer specific evidence for his suggestion about the source of the liquor, and the state government's response to his comments was not immediately available.