Himadree Kaushik, the additional superintendent of police, disclosed that a total of 18 deaths in six villages have been reported in Yamunanagar and Ambala district and few more are admitted in the hospitals stated serious including a victim referred to the PGI Chandigarh. Most of the victims consuming spurious liquor are losing their eyesight. The number of arrests in this case including three persons of the liquor shop at Phusgarh including the contractor Mohinder, Pradeep and Ramesh from where most of the spurious liquor was being sold at the price of Rs 1200 each case against the purchase price Rs 500. Investigation also revealed that nearly 300 boxes of spurious liquor were sold. Meanwhile, DGP Haryana Shatrujit Kapoor has directed SPs to take very strict action against the accused supplied spurious liquor,claimed large numbers of livesand refer cases against them in Fast Track Courts. Information also reveals that police has already arrested 14 persons so far selling spurious liquor
In the latest development regarding the tragic deaths attributed to the consumption of spurious liquor in Haryana cannot be identified at this stage, since additional fatalities are being reported every day. Yamunanagar police, responding swiftly to the crisis, established a special investigation team (SIT) and apprehended three more local individuals identified as Mahender, Subhash, and Radhe, on Saturday late evening. These arrests add to the total of ten individuals detained in connection to the case including two illegal vendors and four in Ambala. Himadree Kaushik, the additional superintendent of police, disclosed that a total of 23 deaths have occurred in the district in the illegal liquor network. Villagers are being cautioned against consuming the specific brand, locally made Malta liquor with a batch date of November 16, 2021, produced by Oasis Overseas Distillery. He said the police initiated warnings targeting the locally manufactured Malta liquor and being supplied in Dhanoura village under the jurisdiction of Mullana police station in Ambala district. A raid conducted on Wednesday night yielded 14 empty drums and materials used in the production of the illicit liquor.
The tragedy prompted a visit from Arshinder Singh Chawla, additional director general of police Haryana state enforcement bureau. Meanwhile, In response to the crisis, Haryana school education minister Kanwar Pal, representing the Yamunanagar district, demanded financial assistance to the affected families, mostly labourers and belonging to families below poverty line. He demanded from Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. who assured a comprehensive inquiry into the incident, vowing that no culprit would be spared. However, opposition parties have criticized the government’s handling of the situation. Bhupinder Singh Hooda, former Haryana chief minister and leader of opposition in Vidhan Sabha emphasized the government’s failure to learn from past incidents, attributing the tragedy to the spread of the black market for intoxicants under the ruling government in the state.
