Thirty-eight people died in three Punjab districts after drinking spurious liquor, officials said on Friday. Nineteen people died are from Tarn Taran, 10 in Amritsar while nine in Batala. After consuming liquor that appears to have been distilled in Amritsar’s Muchhal village. While official feared that the death toll could rise.
Meanwhile eight bootleggers were arrested in over 40 raids conducted across the three districts, officials said.
Punjab Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said the first five deaths were reported from Muchhal and Tangra villages in Amritsar’s Tarsikka on Wednesday night. In Batala, the liquor was sold in the Hathi Gate area, local people said.
Sheela Devi said her 24-year-old son Bhupinder Singh fell unconscious a few hours after he bought liquor from shop.
She also revealed that he complained of discomfort and nausea and a few minutes later he was no more.
As of Friday evening, 10 persons had died of spurious liquor consumption in Amritsar rural, nine in Batala and 19 in Tarn Taran.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered a magisterial inquiry by Divisional Commissioner, Jalandhar, into the suspicious deaths in Amritsar, Batala and Tarn Taran districts, said an official government statement.
SAD leader and former Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said the inquiry ordered by the Chief Minister was “too little, too late and would not serve any purpose”. “The multiple hooch tragedies had exposed the under belly of the illegal liquor trade in Punjab… The government should also act on complaints of the people with reports suggesting that the police failed to act despite complaints about sale of spurious liquor in Muchhal,” he said.
“@capt_amarinder ji if you really want to unearth the truth behind the demise of 21 people due to spurious liquor and bring justice to their families, nothing other than a time bound inquiry by a sitting judge from the Punjab & Haryana High Court will suffice,” tweeted Mr. Bajwa.
