New Delhi: Late Monday evening, 26-year-old Kaka complained of stomach ache to his family at their house in Karnala village in Amritsar. His father brought some medicines but there was no relief through the night. His family knew he was a habitual drinker.
Kaka died early Tuesday. The Amritsar district administration suspects he succumbed to effects of spurious liquor.
“We poor people will drink only locally available, cheap liquor. I take responsibility for not being able to protect my son from this. Until we stop supplying poisonous liquor, lives will continue to be lost,” Kaka’s father Amarpal told ThePrint.
Apart from Kaka, 20 other people died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor in villages across Amritsar between Monday and Tuesday. Kaka was the youngest.
The victims, aged between 26 and 80, belonged to villages like Bhangali, Marari, Threawal, Patalpuri, Karnala, Bhagwan and Talwandi Khuman. This is believed to be the worst hooch tragedy the region has seen in five years.
Officials in Amritsar said background checks of the victims and the ground realities on the consumption of spurious liquor suggest that most of the deceased were from the lower socio-economic rungs of society.
ThePrint reported Wednesday the Punjab Police suspended a deputy superintendent of police and a station house officer (SHO) for “gross negligence” of duties. A departmental inquiry has also been initiated against them.
The Amritsar rural police district has launched a criminal investigation and arrested 12 people so far, including Sahib Singh, the alleged kingpin of a spurious liquor syndicate. On his instance, a person carrying 600 litres of methanol used for production of liquor was arrested by the Patiala Police Tuesday afternoon.
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‘Abdominal discomfort, still eyes and then stiffened body’
Romy, 38, a father of three and his family’s sole breadwinner, also complained of abdominal discomfort, loose motions and vomiting early Monday. His wife, Shankha Devi (26), thought he was taking rest when he didn’t respond to her calling him.
Romy’s cousin Jacky Kumar (36), who works as a tailor in Amritsar, said Romy’s family informed him in the afternoon that he was not waking up. “We rushed to our village and took him to a hospital in Kathu Nangal where doctors declared him dead. His body had completely stiffened up,” Kumar told ThePrint.
“He was the only breadwinner in the family of five. His father had died two decades ago. It’s good that the government has promised Rs 10 lakh for the family. It will help them get by as their children are too young to get the compensatory employment and the wife is uneducated,” Jacky said.
The family of Major Singh (45) from the Marai village of Majitha block had a similar story to share. A daily wage labourer and the sole breadwinner for the family, Major Singh drank Sunday evening, his younger brother said, adding he returned home safe and sound.
He woke up fine early Monday morning. But he started feeling serious symptoms during his walk to the village Gurudwara around 6 am. “His eyelids stopped moving. His body stiffened up. We did not even get an opportunity to take him to a hospital. His family has been left without an earning member,” Sukhdev Singh told ThePrint.
He also expressed apprehension about the delivery of the government’s promise of giving compensation to the family and a job to a family member. “Deaths due to the consumption of spurious liquor have happened in the past too at our village. Everything was promised at the time of the incident, but nothing was delivered,” he further said.
In the same village, Kamaljeet Kaur mourns the death of her husband Sarabjeet Singh (38). Singh complained of low blood pressure and discomfort throughout the day Monday.
“He felt very anxious about deaths in the village due to liquor. He was very depressed. We gave him a cold drink to make him feel better. It was of no use,” she said.
Singh had gone out for a drink early Monday morning, following which he complained of unease and discomfort. “We tried taking him to a hospital in the night, but he succumbed. His body had stiffened up,” Kaur told ThePrint.
Arrests in Delhi
Meanwhile, the Punjab Police Wednesday arrested two alleged methanol suppliers from Delhi’s Model Town. Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav said the action was taken based on WhatsApp chat history between Sahib Singh, who was arrested by the Amritsar police Tuesday, and alleged Delhi-based supplier Rishabh Jain.
Rishabh and his father Ravinder Jain were arrested by the Amritsar rural police, DGP Yadav said.
“One of the main accused, Sahib Singh was in contact with Rishabh Jain, as revealed through his WhatsApp chat history. It is suspected that Sahib Singh received a consignment from Jain, which was used to manufacture spurious liquor in #Punjab region,” Yadav said on X Friday.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
Also Read: Amritsar hooch tragedy: ‘Kingpin’, 9 others arrested, Majitha DSP, SHO suspended for negligence