The bootleg hooch case of Punjab is seeing a rise in the number of death with each passing day. As of Monday, the poisoned hooch sold in Punjab, there were reports of 105 fatalities. The crackdown resulted after the police raided the trade of illegally sold alcohol which took place so conveniently in the Northern State of India. The incident marked as the worst case of bootlegged liquor in 2020.
On 31st July, the number stood at 21 after which the families of the deceased reported dozens of deaths to the administration in the span of two days. The initial deaths that occurred due to the incident were reported on 29th July. The toll doesn’t seem to stop completely with new deaths are surfacing every day innocent farmers and laborers consumed the poisoned alcohol and quickly developed an illness.
Senior official Kulwant Singh said that the Tarn Taran district has witnessed the death of 80 people for the last five days while speaking about another 25 fatalities in Amritsar and Batala.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said that he has issued an immediate and thorough investigation into the matter, further adding that any person found associated or guilty in the case will have to meet their unfortunate fate as they “won’t be spared”.
Following this, the state government has till now suspended six police officials and seven excise authorities connected to the issue. This took shape even though the opposition parties alleged that the ruling party’s chiefs are “patronizing the spurious liquor trade”.
The police had cracked down several illegal trades in many villages of the state leading to the arrest of 30 sellers. They even seized thousands of liters of counterfeit alcohol recovered from dozens of distilleries.
Laboratory reports showed that the liquor consisted of methanol, an extremely poisonous and dangerous substance which when consumed in considerable amounts can cause blindness and death.
Illegal distilleries have taken a stride in India where the alcohol is called “hooch”, “country liquor” or “desi liquor”. This is often bought by the financially weaker sections as they cannot afford to buy the high-end or licensed brands in the country.
According to the government data, around 1,000 victims die by drinking the illegal toxic liquor in India. The liquor is usually made with poor-quality ingredients and sometimes mixed with industrial alcohol and toxic substances.
Last year, 151 people died due to consumption of poisonous liquor. It was one of the most horrendous episodes of alcohol poisoning in the nation in the recent past.
