Seven persons died and two others were taken ill after drinking illicit liqour at Neknampur village in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, an official said today.         Sub-Divisional Officer, West, Kundan Kumar said that seven persons have died and two others were taken ill after drinking spurious liqour in the past 24 hours.        

The victims have been identified as Mistri Sahni, Gunaur Sahni, Shivmangal Ram, Balendra Ram, Baleshwar Ram, Ramlal Sahni and Bilkeshwar Ram, he said.        

The officer also denied claims by the villagers about death of four more persons -- Bindeshwar Ram, Sanjeev Kumar, Devilal Bhagal and Rambha Devi and said that they died of other reasons.        

Of the two taken ill, one person was admitted to a private hospital for treatment, while another was undergoing treatment at the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital, Kumar said.        

Meanwhile, irate people set on fire two liqour shops and blocked Deoria-Muzaffarpur road to protest sale of illicit liqour and police inaction to deal with those running illicit liqour manufacturing units.