Fourteen people have died and six have been hospitalised after consuming spurious liquor in five villages under the Majitha block in Amritsar, Punjab Police said on May 13.
The main distributor or the kingpin has been arrested in the incident that took place on the night of May 12 night, police said.
Majitha Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said, “An unfortunate tragedy has happened in Majitha. We got to know last night, we received reports from five villages that those who consumed liquor yesterday are in critical condition. We rushed our medical teams. Our medical teams are still going door-to-door.”
Two FIRs have been registered in the case. The deaths have occurred in five villages- Bhangali, Patalpuri, Marari Kalan, Therewal and Talwandi Ghuman.
“Whether people have some symptoms or not, we are taking them to hospital so that we can save them. 14 people have died so far. The Governement is extending all the help possible. We are ensuring that this death toll doesn’t increase…we have arrested the suppliers and further investigation is underway…” the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Sakshi Sawhney said.
The police have arrested four other people in connection with this case as they were involved in the distribution of the illicit liquor to villagers in Majitha. An FIR has been registered under sections 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and 61A of the Excise Act.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar (Rural) Maninder Singh said that the main accused has been identified as Prabhjeet Singh. The police informed that the others who have been arrested in this case are: Kulbir Singh alias Jaggu, brother of the main distributor, Sahib Singh alias Sarai, Gurjant Singh, and Ninder Kaur.
“We received information around 9:30 pm last night that here people have started dying after consuming spurious liquor. We took action immediately and rounded up four people. We arrested the main supplier, Prabhjeet Singh. We interrogated him and found out about the kingpin supplier, Sahab Singh. We have rounded him up as well. We are investigating which firms he has bought this,” SSP Singh said, adding, “We have been given strict instructions from the Punjab government that strict action must be taken against suppliers of spurious liquor. Raids are underway.”
He said that the police have registered two FIRs against manufacturers and distributors, booking them under stringent sections. The SSP asserted that the police would bust the entire distribution network.
The incident occurred in five villages, and the civil administration, along with the police, are going door to door to find out more people who have consumed the illicit liquor to avoid further casualties, he added.
“Manufacturers will be rounded up soon. Two FIRs have been registered under stringent sections. We aim to bust the entire distribution network. The civil administration, and we are going door to door to find out more people who have consumed this, to avoid further casualties and save people. 14 deaths have been confirmed and six people are currently hospitalised. This incident took place in five villages,” SSP Singh said.
Notably, a similar tragedy took place five years ago in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts in which about 130 people died and around a dozen had lost their vision after allegedly consuming spurious liquor.
This tragic event has once again raised concerns over the unchecked circulation of spurious liquor in rural parts of Punjab.
