Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
At least 14 people have died in Punjab's Amritsar district after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, leading to the arrest of seven accused, officials said on Tuesday.
Police said six people have been hospitalised with complications caused by hooch.
The deaths occurred in villages -- Bhangali, Patalpuri, Marari Kalan and Therewal, said the officials. Police probe revealed that methanol, which was used for preparing the hooch, was procured in bulk online.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said those responsible for the deaths of innocent people in the villages in Majitha would not be spared. "These are not deaths, these are murders," he said in an X post.
Five of the seven arrested have been identified as Prabhjit Singh, the main accused, Kulbir Singh, Sahib Singh, Gurjant Singh and Ninder Kaur, police said.
The grilling of the main accused revealed that one Sahib Singh ordered methanol online and then distributed it, police said, adding a case has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Excise Act.
Opposition parties in Punjab on Tuesday lashed out at the AAP government over the hooch tragedy that claimed 17 lives, saying this incident shows "hollowness" of the state government's anti-drug drive 'Yudh Nashain Virudh'.
Reacting to the deaths caused by the alleged consumption of spurious liquor, senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa alleged that the Bhagwant Mann government should be held responsible for not being able to prevent such incidents.
"It is a failed government and a failed chief minister," said Bajwa who visited one of the affected villages in Amritsar.
Earlier in a post on X, Bajwa said, "Where is the so-called Yudh Nasheyan De Virodh now? @AAPPunjab govt has utterly failed to control the liquor mafia.
The Punjab government has been conducting an anti-drug drive -- Yudh Nashian Virudh (war against drugs) -- for the past 70 days.
Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu also slammed the AAP government over the incident, saying families have been shattered by spurious liquor while the Mann government remains in "deep slumber".
"Their so-called 'Yudh Nasheyan De Virudh' is nothing but a political theatre. When the chief minister himself has a history with alcohol, how can the fight against addiction ever be sincere?" said Bittu in a post on X.
This is the second such major hooch tragedy that took place in just more than a year.
In March 2024, 20 people lost their lives after consuming spurious liquor in Sangrur district.
